Procopio Cutò, also known as Francesco Procopio Cutò, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, or François Procope () was a chef from Sicily. Billing himself as a modern Procopius, he founded in 1686 what has become the oldest extant café in Paris, Café Procope. It became the first literary coffeehouse in Paris. For over 200 years the cafe-restaurant attracted notables in the world of arts, politics, and literature. Biography Some sources say Cutò was born near Mount Etna in Sicily around the town of Aci Trezza. Other sources say he was born at or near Palermo. A certificate of baptism of 10 February 1651 has been found in the archives of the parish church of one day after his birth that shows his first name as Francesco and his surname as Cutò, a common surname in Sicily. A third possibility is that he was born near Palermo and lived in Aci Trezza for a period of time. The name Procopio was adopted from the historian Procopius, whose Secret History, the Anekdota, long known of, had been discovered in the Vatican Library and published for the first time ever in 1623: it told the scandals of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, the empress-consort Theodora, and his court. Cutò received the surname dei Coltelli from the French, who mistook his Sicilian family name, as it is a homophone of French couteaux "knives". Coltelli means "knives" in Italian. Hence, translating back into Italian gives Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, the other name he is known by. "Francesco Procopio" are his forenames; Francesco was his grandfather's name. Cutò married Marguerite Crouïn on 26 February 1675 in the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris. The marriage record shows the witnesses as his father Onofrio Cutò and his mother Domenica Semarqua. Procopio and Marguerite had eight children during their long marriage before Procopio became a widower in 1696. Early life Cutò played in the snow when he was a boy. The snow was mixed with fruit juices and honey to make a type of sorbet. This type of "ice cream" was eaten by both rich aristocrats and by peasants. This is where Procopio got the idea of developing gelato. Procopio is credited with being the inventor of modern gelato. Cutò worked first as a fisherman like his father Onofrio. His grandfather Francesco was also a fisherman from Aci Trezza who built gelatiere machines (ice cream makers) part-time, when he was not