Marsilio Ficino was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was a prominent astrologer, a reviver of Neoplatonism, and the first to translate Plato's complete works into Latin. His Florentine Academy, an attempt to revive Plato's Academy, profoundly influenced the direction of European philosophy and the Renaissance. Ficino dedicated his life to synthesizing Platonic philosophy with Christian theology, leaving a lasting impact on Western thought.