MACCHI, Vincenzo. - Cardinal, b. at Capodimonte, diocese of Montefiascone, 31 Aug. 1770, d. at Rome 30 Sept. 1860. Attached to the nunciature in Lisbon, when the French invaded Portugal in 1808 he replaced the nuncio Lorenzo Calepi as chargé d’affaires.
Elected in 1818 titular archbishop of Nisibi, he served as apostolic nuncio to the Swiss Confederation, and then in January 1820 as nuncio in Paris; in 1826 he became a cardinal.
In 1828 he was appointed apostolic legate of Ravenna and in 1835 president of the Congregation for the Revision of Accounts; the following year he became apostolic legate of Bologna, in these offices displaying great moderation and balance. He also served as prefect of the Congregation of the Council (1834) and from 1840 bishop of Palestrina, then prefect of the Segnatura di giustizia from 1841, bishop of Porto, S. Rufina and Civitavecchia and sub-dean of the Sacred College (1844). Pius IX, in the early days of his pontificate, appointed him a member of a commission charged with handling state affairs.
At the death of Cardinal Micara (1847), he became bishop of Ostia and Velletri and dean of the Sacred College; at Ostia he took a keen interest in the restoration of the famous castle, and at Velletri he established evening schools, entrusting their direction to the Doctrinarians, restored the cathedral and erected the façade of the church of S. Lucia. He subsequently held the offices of datary of His Holiness and Secretary of Apostolic Briefs. His tomb is in SS. Giovanni e Paolo.