SANTO DOMINGO
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SANTO DOMINGO
cumstanoc, and possibly also his being confused with
his uncle Giovanni Battista, may account for the
fact that in bibliographical dictionaries he still fig-
ures under the title of abate. It is certain, however,
that he never received major orders. In 1810 he
married Teresa Pastrovich, and one year after her
death, in 1843, he contracted a second marriage with
Adriana Conforti, who outlived him. During his
stay at Pisa he won by his dihgence the love and con-
fidence not only of his professors but also of the rector
of the university and of the influential Fossombroni.
At their urgent suggestion Santini's family, especially
his uncle, made great sacrifices to enable him to con-
tinue his studies in Milan (1805-1806) under Oriani,
Cesaris, and Carlini. On 17 Oct., 1806, the Italian
Government appointed him assistant to the direc-
tor of the observatory at Padua, Abate Chiminello,
whom he succeeded in 1814. In 1813 the university
offered him the chair of astronomy, a position in
which he was confirmed by the Emperor Francis I
in 1818 after the Venetian territory had become part
of Austria. In addition he taught for several years,
as substitute, elementary alg('l)ra, geometry, and
higher mathematics. During the; school years 1824-
1825 and 1856-7 he was rector of the university, and
from 1845 to 1872 director of mathematical studies.
Towards the end of 1873 he sufTered repeatedly from
fainting spells which were followed by a steadily in-
creasing physical and mental weakness and final
breakdown. He died in his ninety-first year at his
villa, Novcnta Padovana.
Both as a practical and theoretic astronomer, San- tini has made the Observatory of Padua famous. \Mien he took charge the observatory was located in an old fortified tower, in a precarious condition. The most valuabl(> instrument he found was a Ramsden mural quadi-ant ciglit feet in diameter. On account of the political coniplirjitions and Chiminello's protracted illness, the i)ract ical work was reduced to a minimum — regular meteorological observations. Santini at once began to take careful observations of comets, planets, planetoids, occultations, and echpses. In 1811 he determined the latitude of Padua with the aid of Gauss's method of three stars in the same altitude, and in 1815 again, with a new repeating circle. In 1822, '24, and '28 he assisted the astronomical and geodetic service of Italy by making observations in longitude. Constantly striving to equip this insti- tute in accordance with the latest requirements of sci- ence, he installed in 1823 a new lUzschneider equa- torial, and in 1837 a new meridian circle. \\'ith the.se last he began at once to make zonal observations for a catalogue of .stars bet ween declination + Kf and — 10°, an undertaking which he carried out on a large scale, and which he, with the aid of his assistant, Trette- nero, completed in 1857, after ten years of work. In 1843 he made a scientific journey through Germany, and in the most scientific centres he conferred with distinguished savants in his own and related fields. As a theoretic astronomer, Santini deserves notice for his researches concerning the comets. In the Encke- Galle catalogue he is credited with the calculation of nineteen orbits. He acquired his greatest fame by his calculations of the orbital disturbances dur- ing the period from 1832-1852 caused by the great planets on the comet of Biela. The time and place of the appearance of this comet in 1846 corresponded exactly with previous calculations. In 1819-20 he published his "Elementi di Astronomia" (2nd ed., Padua, 1830), a work in two parts, of classic soberness and thoroughness. In 1828 appeared his "Teorica degli Stromenti Ottici", also published in Padua, in which he explains by means of the most simple for- mulas the construction of the different kinds of tele- scopes, microscopes etc. A number of dissertations on geodetic and astronomic subjects from his pen ap- peared in the annals of learned associations, in the
"Correspondance du Baron de Zach", "Astrono-
mische Nachrichten", etc. Besides some twenty Ital-
ian scientific societies, Santini became a member
in 1825 of the London Royal Astronomical Society;
in 1845 a corresponding member of the Institut de
France; and in 1847 member of the Kaiserliche
Akademie der Wissenschaften of Vienna. When in
1866 Venice was separated from Austria, he became a
corresponding member of the last-named association.
Danish, Austrian, Spanish, and Italian decorations
were bestowed upon him. A complete list of his
writings may be found in the "Discorso" (pp. 42-67)
by Lorenzoni, mentioned below.
LoRENZONi, Giovanni Santini, la sua vita e le sue opere. Dis- corso letto nella chiesa di S. Sofia in Padova (Padua, 1877) : Idem, In occasione del prima centenario dalla nascita dell' astro- nomo Sayitini (Padua, 1887); von Wurzbach, Biograf. Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oestreich mit Untersliitzung durch die Kais. Akad. der IFiss. (Vienna, 1874), s. v.; Poggendorff, Biograf. lilt. Handb., II (Leipzig, 1859), s. v.
J. Stein.
Santo Domingo, Archdiocese of (Sancti Dom- iNici), erected on 8 August, 1511, by Julius II, who by the Bull "Pontifex Romanus" on that date established also the Sees of Concepci6n de la Vega and of San Juan of Porto Rico Three prelates, who had been appointed to the sees comprising the ecclesias- tical province created previously (1504) by the same sovereign pontiff, united their petition to that of the Crown in requesting the Holy See (see Porto Rico) to suppress the same and to establish the three new dioceses as suffragans to the See of Seville. This alteration was effected before any one of the prelates in question had tak(>n i)().s.session of his diocese or had received consecration. Father Francisco Garcia de Padilla, Franciscan, who had been in 1504 the prel- ate designed to occujjy the See of Bayuna (Baynoa, Baiunensis), on the extinction of the .same was chosen the first Bishoy) of Santo Domingo, having been so mentioned in the Bull of the erection of the diocese. He died before his consecration, after having named Rev. Carlos de Arag6n his vicar-general and having authorized him to take possession of the diocese in the name of the bishop, who never reached America. The first bishop to occupy the See of Santo Domingo was Alessandro Geraldini, appointed in 1516 and died in 1524. He was a native of Italy, and perhaps the only representative of all America to assist at the Fifth Lateran Council.
Paul III on 12 Feb., 1545, elevated Santo Domingo to the rank of an archdiocese, the incumbent of the see at the time, Bishop Alonso de P'uenmayor, be- coming the first archbishop. Santo Domingo as the first metropolitan see of America, according to the terms of the Bull of erection "Super Universas Orbis Ecclesias", had five .suffragan sees, as follows: San Juan in Porto Rico, Santiago in Cuba, Coro in Vene- zuela, Santa Marta of Cartagena, and Trujillo in Hon- duras. The Diocese of Concepcion de la Vega had been united, after the death of its first bishop, Pedro Sudrez de Deza, to the See of Santo Domingo by Apo.s- tolic authority. Nothing in the text of the Bull of erection would warrant the u.se of the title of Primate of the Indies by the archbishop of this see, although it remains indisputable that it is the first metropolitan see of all America. Santo Domingo is equally en- titled to be called the cradle of Christianity in America, being the centre of the religious and missionary zeal that radiated thence to the adjoining islands and main- land. The Bull of Alexander VI, dated 24 June, 1493, designated the Franciscan Father Buil (Boil) to accompany Columbus on his .second voyage of discovery, with ample faculties as Apostolic dele- gate or vicar, and to bring to the New World a body of zealous missionaries. The unfortunate inci- dent which deprived America of his services doubtless marred the growth of the Church in the beginning. But on 30 August, 1495, a band of Franciscans and
