VIDONI SORERNA, PIETRO. - Cardinal, b. at Cremona on 2 Sept. 1759, d. at Rome on 10 Aug. 1830.
Having completed his studies at the Pontifical Academy of Noble Ecclesiastics, he was appointed by Pius VI supernumerary secret chamberlain, domestic prelate (1781), vice-legate of Ferrara and apostolic protonotary (1784), and referendary of the Consulta (1790). Pius VII appointed him (1801) apostolic delegate of Ancona and president of the government of Pesaro and Urbino (1806), and V. S, in the conduct of affairs, displayed conspicuous gifts of sagacity and prudence. During the French invasion he paid the salaries of the public officials dependent upon him and sold his precious silverware to provide for the needs of the Holy See. In the offices he held he never wished to accept any remuneration; indeed, while governing Pesaro and Urbino, he contributed substantially from his own resources to the execution of important public works.
Pius VII, in the Consistory of 8 March 1816, created him cardinal deacon of S. Nicola in Carcere. Endowed with profound learning and a patron of scholars, he had published at his own expense (1826) the work by Antonio Nibby, Q. Verri Flacci fastorum sacrorum reliquiae jam a Fogginio illustratae super veterum subsidii instauratae. He acquired in Rome the Palazzo Stoppani in Via del Sudario, which now bears his name, and the Chapel of the Madonna della Purità in S. Andrea della Valle, where he wished to be buried.
Mario De Camilli