Michele ACCOLTI. — Jesuit missionary, b. at Conversano (Bari) on 29 Jan. 1807, d. at San Francisco on 7 Nov. 1878. He entered the Society in Rome in 1832 and in 1843 was sent to the Indian missions of North America, embarking at Antwerp with Fr. Pierre-Jean de Smet (q.v.). A lengthy account of his journey is published by B. Accolti-Gil, *Padre Michele Accolti*, Bari 1916, pp. 65–129. In 1849 he founded, with Fr. Giovanni de Nobili, the new mission in California, and in 1850 became superior of that in Oregon. Returning to Rome in 1853, he succeeded in having these two missions entrusted to the Turin province of the Order. Back in America, Fr. Accolti served as professor and prefect of studies at Santa Clara, and preached in New York and San Francisco, where he spent his last ten years.
ACCOLTI, MICHELE
Bibl.: G. J. Garraghan, *The Jesuits of the Middle United States*, II, New York 1938, pp. 205–435 passim; W. Bischoff, *A sketch of Jesuits activities in the Pacific Northwest. The Jesuits in Old Oregon, 1840–1940*, Idaho 1945.