DE ZELADA, FRANCESCO SAVERIO. - Cardinal, born in Rome on 27 Aug. 1717, died there on 19 Dec. 1801.
Introduced to an ecclesiastical career by Cardinal Argenvilliers, he was enrolled by Benedict XIV among his familiars as an honorary chamberlain. He subsequently became prelate of the Fabric of St Peter’s (1744) and of the ecclesiastical immunity (1755), civil lieutenant of the tribunal of the Apostolic Chamber (1758), auditor of the Rota (1760), archbishop of Petra and secretary of the Congregation of the Council and of the Residence of Bishops (1766), and votive of the Segnatura of Grace (1767).
Created cardinal by Clement XIV in the consistory of 19 Apr. 1773 with the title of SS. Sylvester and Martin in the Mountains, which he retained in commendam when he opted for that of St Praxedes. He played a prominent part in the affairs of Clement XIV’s pontificate and was among the cardinals most opposed to the Society of Jesus. As a member of the Congregation of cardinals and prelates charged with implementing the brief of suppression and managing the affairs of the Society, he was appointed prefect of studies at the Roman College and the Roman Seminary, becoming protector of the church and house of the Gesù. In 1780 he was named librarian of the Holy Roman Church, and in 1788 major penitentiary. In the following year Pius VI appointed him Secretary of State at a time of exceptional difficulty, especially in relations between the Holy See and France. It suffices to recall that during the period in which De Zelada directed the Secretariat of State, the assassination of Ugo Bassi occurred in Rome and the embassy to Paris of Cristoforo Pieraccini failed.
He took part in the conclave at Venice, where he consecrated Pius VII as bishop in 1785, and was named archpriest of the basilica of St John Lateran by the new Pope.
A passionate scholar and friend of learned men, De Zelada assembled a most select library, a museum of sacred and profane antiquities, a collection of coins and medals, and a physical apparatus among the finest and most perfect of his age. In the niche of the Belvedere in the Vatican, on the advice of the Minim Father Jacquier, he built an observatory equipped with the best astronomical instruments, including an equatorial telescope by Dollond. He donated numerous anatomical wax models to the hospital of Santo Spirito and to the University of Rome.
A work in his honour remains: *De nummis aliquot aeneis uncialibus epistola* (Rome 1778), with a catalogue of the coins collected by the cardinal, including the weight and value of each, compiled by the numismatist Pietro Borghesi.