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Giovanni Antonio Grassi (1775-1849) -- Jesuit priest

Born in Lombardy (Italy), Grassi joined the Jesuits. He was sent to the United States in 1810, where he became the superior of the Jesuits' Maryland Mission and the president of Georgetown College (1812-1817). For significantly improving its curriculum and public reputation, as well as obtaining its congressional charter, Grassi became known as Georgetown's "second founder". He returned to Rome in 1817, where he died in 1849.