LUIGI PALMA DI CESNOLA (1832-1904): Born in Piemonte; Died in New York.

This chapter profiles General Luigi Palma di Cesnola, an Italian American who was born in Piemonte in 1832 and died in New York in 1904. Before he came to the U.S., General Palma was already famous throughout Europe as an archeologist and diplomat.During his tenure as the Italian consul in Cyprus, he became interested in the ancient history of that island, and participated in archeological excavations there. Fortunately for the U.S., he collected the Cypriote Antiquities, then worth about$ 200,000, and eventually arranged for the collection to be purchased, for about$ 60,000, by the newly founded Metropolitan Museum of Art. Few people know, however, that prior to his election as museum director, Palma had served with distinction in the U.S. Army. He had received the Congressional Medal of Honor; and President Lincoln had promoted Colonel Palma to the rank of brigadier general. Surely, in the person of Luigi Palma di Cesnola, Generals Thaddeus Koseiusko and Serge Koussevitzky have a brother-in-arms who has yet to be sufficiently recognized.