Enrico Gasparri

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Enrico Gasparri (25 July 1871 – 20 May 1946) was a Roman Catholic cardinal and archbishop. Born in Ussita, Italy, he studied theology and philosophy in Rome and was ordained a priest on 10 August 1894. He worked in Rome before joining the Holy See’s diplomatic service.

Gasparri served in Brazil and was appointed Titular Archbishop of Sebastea and Apostolic Delegate to Colombia on 14 November 1915. He later became Apostolic Internuncio to Colombia in 1916 and then Nuncio to Colombia in 1917. He was named Nuncio to Brazil on 1 September 1920.

On 14 December 1925, at age 54, he was created Cardinal-Priest of San Bartolomeo all'Isola. This appointment was an exception to the 1917 Code of Canon Law because he was the nephew of Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri. On 18 May 1933 Pope Pius XI appointed him Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, and on 16 October 1933 he was elevated to Cardinal-Bishop of Velletri. He served as Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals from 1942 to 1946 and was a cardinal elector in the 1939 conclave that elected Pope Pius XII.

Gasparri died in Rome on 20 May 1946 at the age of 74.