Cesnola, Luigi Palma di, 1832-1904
Dates
- Existence: 1832 - 1904
Biography
Emanuele Pietro Paolo Mario Luigi Palma di Cesnola was born on June 28, in 1832 in Italy. He came to the United States around 1858 and met his life-long friend, Hiram Hitchcock, in 1859. From 1862-1864, he was a colonel of the Fourth Regiment of New York State's Voluntary Cavalry during the Civil War. Di Cesnola became a US Citizen in 1865 and was appointed US Consul in Cyprus. A year later he started digging for antiquities in fields around the Consulate. In 1872, his collection of antiquities was bought by the Metropolitan Museum of Art where he became the first full time director in 1879 and an elected Trustee in 1885. Di Cesnola also published a book entitled "Cyprus" in 1878 and received an honorary degree from Dartmouth College in 1872. He died on November 20, 1904.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Luigi Cesnola papers
Luigi Palma di Cesnola (1832-1904), archeologist. The collection contains correspondence, chiefly with Hiram Hitchcock, biographical material, pamphlets and periodicals, newspaper clippings relating to Cesnola's archaeology collection from Cyprus and other papers.