VIDONI SORESINA, PIETRO. — Cardinal, born at Cremona on 2 Sept. 1759, died at Rome on 10 Aug. 1830.
After completing his studies at the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles, he was appointed by Pius VI an honorary secret chamberlain, domestic prelate (1781), vice-legate of Ferrara and apostolic protonotary (1784), and ponens of the Consulta (1790). Pius VII wished 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 marked gifts of sagacity and prudence. During the French invasion he paid the salaries of the public employees under his jurisdiction and sold his precious silverware to meet the needs of the Holy See. In the offices he held, he never accepted any emolument; indeed, during his government of 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. Gifted with profound learning and a patron of scholars, he had published at his own expense (1826) the work of Antonio Nibby, *O. Verri Flacci fastorum sacrorum reliquiae jam a Fogginio illustratae super veterum subsidiiis instauratae*. In Rome he acquired the Palazzo Stoppani in Via del Sudario, now bearing his name, and the Chapel of the Madonna della Purità in S. Andrea della Valle, where he wished to be buried.
Mario De Camillis