Anthony F. Ciampi

Anthony Francis Ciampi (born Antonio Francesco Ciampi; January 29, 1816 – November 24, 1893) was an Italian priest of the Catholic Church and member of the Society of Jesus.

Early life
Antonio F. Ciampi was born on January 29, 1816, to a prominent family in Rome in the Papal States. One of his uncles was Cardinal Giuseppe Sala. Ciampi studied at the Roman College, before entering the Jesuit novitiate at Sant'Andrea al Quirinale in Rome on September 7, 1832. He then studiedphilosophy at the Roman College, before teaching grammar at a Jesuit school in Piacenza from 1839 to 1840. After this, Ciampi taught grammar and the humanities in Ferrara from 1840 to 1844. In 1845, he returned to Rome to study theology for one year.

James A. Ryder, the president of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, invited young Jesuits from the Roman College to become missionaries to the United States. Ciampi accepted this invitation and sailed for the United States. He continued his studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he was ordained a priest on July 23, 1848. He was then engaged as a minister or missionary in various Jesuit institutions for three years.

First presidency
Ciampi was appointed the President of the College of the Holy Cross on August 28, 1851. Within a year of his appointment, on July 14, 1852, a devastating fire consumed the entire college building, except for its east wing and library, despite the efforts of the fire department and local citizens of Worcester to haul water a quarter of a mile up the hill from the river. The student dormitories with their possessions were lost, and the uninsured college faced a cost of $50,000. The fire was believed to have begun on the third floor by a professor who was burning old examination papers. Left without any place to stay, the neighbors offered lodging to the faculty and students. Within a few months, work began on rebuilding the school using the contributions of donors throughout the Diocese of Boston. A new and larger building was opened on October 3, 1853.

Ciampi professed his fourth vow on September 8, 1852.

Loyola College in Maryland
Ciampi became the rector of the Jesuits' St. Stanislaus novitiate in Frederick, Maryland, in 1883, succeeding Archibald J. Tisdall. He held this office until August 26, 1887, when he was succeeded by Michael O'Kane.

Death and legacy
Ciampi died on November 24, 1893, aged 77, at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was buried in the Jesuit Community Cemetery at Georgetown.

Ciampi Hall at the College of the Holy Cross opened on March 25, 1991, as the school's Jesuit residence.