DELLA GENGA SERMATTEI, GABRIELE. - Cardinal, b. at Assisi on 4 Dec. 1801, d. at Rome on 10 Feb. 1861. Nephew of Leone XII, he was ordained
priest on 26 Sept. 1830. Appointed archbishop of Ferrara, he was sent to Vienna as extraordinary legate to attend the funeral of Emperor Francesco I. Made cardinal on 11 July 1836, he received the legation of the province of Ferrara, from which he passed to that of Urbino and Pesaro.
In 1847 he was summoned to Rome by Pio IX as president of the Congregation of Revision. He always sought to ensure respect for order and discipline and, while avoiding the excesses of reaction, was very energetic toward the liberals; consequently, during the Roman Republic in 1848, he was compelled to flee to Spoleto. From there he joined the Pope at Gaeta, and was later in Naples as a guest in the Dominican convent. When Rome was occupied by the French, he formed part of the so-called red triumvirate, a cardinalitial State commission charged with governing the city until the Pope’s return.