Isaac Argyropoulos

Isaac Argiropulo was an Italian organist and organ builder, born around 1450 and died in Rome in 1508. The son of the Greek scholar Giovanni Argiropulo, who had gone into exile in Italy, he received a training that combined the performance and construction of keyboard instruments, learned under Antonio Squarcialupi.

His keyboard virtuosity earned him a post at the court of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza in Milan, between 1472 and 1474, and he was also admired in Naples, Rome and Bologna. Although he maintained close ties with Florence, he later settled in Rome, where his knowledge of Greek opened the door to a position at the Vatican.

His activity as a builder, repairer and organ consultant is documented in Milan (1472), Genoa (1475) and Rome (1496). It is worth not confusing him with Heinrich Isaac, with whom he has sometimes been mistakenly identified.