Antonio Agliardi (1832-1915), papal diplomatist, was born at Cologno (Bergamo), Italy, on September 4 1832 and died in Rome on May 1 1915.

He studied theology and canon law, and, after acting as parish priest in his native diocese for twelve years was sent by the Canada as a bishop's chaplain. On his return he was appointed secretary to the congregation of the Propaganda.

In 1884 he was created by Leo XIII archbishop of Caesarea in partibus and sent to India to report on the establishment of the hierarchy there.

In 1887 he again visited India, to carry out the terms of the concordat arranged with Portugal. The same year he was appointed secretary to the Congregation super negotiis ecclesiae extraordinariis, in 1889 became papal nuncio at Munich and in 1892 at Vienna. Allowing himself to be involved in the ecclesiastical disputes by which Hungary was divided in 1895, he was made the subject of formal complaint by the Hungarian government and in 1896 was recalled.

His services were rewarded by a Cardinalate and the archbishopric of Ferrara. In 1903 he was named vice-chancellor of the Roman Church.

This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.