BALUFFI, Gaetano. - Cardinal, bishop of Imola, b. at Ancona on 28 March 1788, d. at Imola on 11 Nov. 1866. Ordained 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.
There he remained for six years and collected material for his book *L'America un tempo spagnuola riguardata sotto l'aspetto religioso dall'epoca del suo disoccupamento sino al 1843*, Ancona 1844, in 2 vols. His work is of great importance for the study of American missions; the German translation appeared in 1848. In 1866 he became bishop of Imola, and in December was created cardinal. He died at Imola on 11 Nov. of the same year.
BIBL.: Streit, *Bibl.* III, 1927, pp. 558 and 564.