AUGUSTO THEODOLI. — Cardinal, born in Rome on 18 Sept. 1819, died there on 26 June 1892.
Appointed canon of S. Maria Maggiore by Gregory XVI, and by Pius IX (1847) a Vatican canon, he became in 1856 ponens of the Consulta and ten years later auditor of the Segnatura and economic secretary of the Congregation of the Rev. Fabbrica of St Peter’s. In that office he earned outstanding merits towards the Vatican Basilica. Notable in particular are the operational arrangements for the solemn celebrations of the eighteenth centenary of the martyrdom of the holy apostles Peter and Paul (1867) and the transformations made to accommodate the Ecumenical Council (1869–70). He had the colonnades restored, the Michelangelo dome covered in lead, part of the marble pavement renewed, and the chapels of the Most Holy Sacrament and of the Choir entirely restored. In 1882 Leo XIII created him his majordomo and prefect of the Apostolic Palaces, and in 1886 cardinal. He was the last cardinal protector of the Noble College of Merchants of Rome.