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Nicholas Congiato

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicholas Congiato
2nd President of
Santa Clara University
In office
1856–1857
Preceded byJohn Nobili
Succeeded byFelix Cicaterri
Personal details
BornSeptember 14, 1816
Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
DiedMay 10, 1897 (1897-05-11) (aged 80)
Los Gatos, California, US
ProfessionJesuit priest

Nicholas Congiato (14 September 1816 – 10 May 1897) was an Italian-born Jesuit priest. He was born in Cagliari, Sardinia and entered the Society of Jesus, an order of the Roman Catholic Church, when he was fourteen years of age. After his initial education, he went to Turin, Italy, for advanced studies in philosophy. Congiato then became Vice-President of the College of Nobles in Turin and held a similar position at the Jesuit College in Fribourg, a city in Switzerland.

In 1847, he was sent to the United States, where he led St. Joseph's College in Bardstown, Kentucky, ministered to Indian missions in the Rocky Mountains, and, in 1854, came to California to take over as Superior General of the Jesuit Missions of California and Oregon.

Congiato became the second president of two different Jesuit colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area. Upon the death of John Nobili in 1856, he assumed the presidency of Santa Clara College. His tenure in Santa Clara, (1856–1858), saw the construction of the first chapel, renovations of the theatre and gymnasium, and the establishment of the Philhistorian and Philalethic Debating Societies. During that time, a swimming pond was also added. Afterwards, Congiato succeeded Anthony Maraschi as president of Saint Ignatius College in San Francisco in 1862, serving two separate terms and presiding over Saint Ignatius' expansion in downtown San Francisco.

After 1858, Congiato remained the Superior of the Oregon Missions, and twice (1865–1868 and 1883–1888) was appointed Superior of the Mission of California. For nearly twenty years he served as the pastor of St. Joseph's Church in San Jose, California and constructed the Jesuit Novitiate at Los Gatos, where he died in 1897.

References

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  • University of Santa Clara (1912). University of Santa Clara. University of Santa Clara: a history from the founding of Santa Clara Mission in 1777 to the beginning of the University in 1912. Harvard College Library: University Press. p. 22.
  • Mckevitt, Gerald (1979). The University of Santa Clara: A History, 1851-1977 (illustrated ed.). Santa Clara University: Stanford University Press. pp. 53, 122, 128, 329, 331, 345, 353 372, 376. ISBN 9780804710244.
  • Salvatore, LaGumina (2000). The Italian American experience: an encyclopedia. Garland reference Library of the humanities Special - Reference Series. Vol. 1535 (illustrated ed.). Santa Clara University: Taylor & Francis. pp. 285, 286, 715. ISBN 9780815307136.
  • Santa Clara College (corporate authorship). Souvenir of Santa Clara College. Santa Clara, CA: University Press, 1901. (Page 18)