Grassi, Giovanni Antonio

Giovanni Antonio Grassi (September 10, 1775 - December 12, 1849) was an Italian Jesuit whose long sojourn in the United States included serving as the President of Georgetown College in Washington, D.C. Grassi was born in the Republic of Venice showed promise as a young student, leading to his recruitment to the Jesuit College in Polotsk (then in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, now Belarus). He was meant to travel to China to revive the dying Jesuit mission at the Qing Court, but was unable to secure safe passage after years of effort. He then went to England and finally to the United States, where he headed the Maryland Mission of the Jesuits and served as the President of Georgetown College (later University). He is credited with overhauling the college's curriculum and administration, setting it on a path to become America's premier Catholic university. He also wrote the book Notizie varie sullo stato presente della repubblica degli Stati Uniti dell'America Settentrionale, scritte al principio del 1818, which was important for providing information on the young republic to an Italian audience (Grassi became a naturalized American citizen in 1815). During his time in the U.S., Grassi was appalled by slavery but did not endorse immediate emancipation and in his official duties oversaw slaves owned by the mission and college. Due to his success with Georgetown, Grassi was called back to Italy to lead the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide, the Holy See's institution for training missionaries. He went on to serve in various ecclesiastical and administrative roles, including as royal confessor to the king and queen of Sardinia.