The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Botta, Vincenzo

BOTTA, Vincenzo, Italian scholar: b. in Piedmont, 11 Nov. 1818; d. New York, 5 Oct. 1894. He was elected to the Sardinian Parliament in 1849 and in 1853 was sent to the United States on a mission to investigate the American educational system. New York pleased him so well that he settled there and was appointed professor of the Italian language and literature in the University of New York. In 1855 he married Anne Charlotte Lynch; their home became a meeting place for literary people and artists. She founded at the Académie Française a quinquennial prize of $1,000 for the best essay on “The Condition of Woman.” She died 23 March 1891. Botta published ‘Dante,’ ‘Modern Philosophy in Italy,’ a life of Cavour and other studies.