Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography

Thousands of short American lives — soldiers, inventors, preachers, governors, novelists — each given a paragraph: born where, did what, and why anyone remembered.

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Cesnola, Louis P. Di

soldier, diplomat, was born June 29, 1832, in Turin, Italy. In 1848 he took part in the Italian war against Austria, and was promoted to second lieutenant on the field at Novara in 1849. He was graduated from the military academy at Cheraseo, fought in the Crimean war, and emigrated to America in 1860. He served with distinction in the civil war, and was sent as United States consul to Cyprus, where he remained for eleven years. On his return to America the consulate-general of Havana was offered him, but he abandoned the consul service and accepted the appointment as director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a place which he has occupied ever since with distinction. He is the author of Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs and Temples: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; and other works.

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