BALUFFI, GAETANO. — Cardinal, bishop of Imola, born in Ancona on 28 March 1788, died in Imola on 11 November 1866. Ordained a priest in 1813, vicar general in 1824, bishop of Bagnorea from 1833 to 1836, in which year he was sent as apostolic nuncio to New Granada.
He remained there for six years and gathered the material for his book L'America un tempo spagnuola riguardata sotto l'aspetto religioso dall'epoca del suo discoprimento sino al 1843, Ancona 1844, in 2 vols. His work is of great importance for the study of the American missions; the German translation appeared in 1848. In 1866 he became bishop of Imola, and in December was created cardinal. He died in Imola on 11 November of the same year.
BIBL.: Streit, Bibl., III, 1927, pp. 338 and 364. Giovanni B. Tragella