Leopoldo Pelli-Fabbroni to Thomas Jefferson, 3 February 1823
From Leopoldo Pelli-Fabbroni
Florence ce 3. Fevrier 1823.
Monsieur
L’ancienne, et honorable amitié que Vous aviez eu la bonté d’accorder à mon Pére bien aimé, et qui etoit par lui réligiéusement1 consérvée au fond de son coeur, comme celle de2 l’Homme distingué du Siecle, de Celui à qui l’Amérique doit la consérvation de sa Liberté, et l’Êtat florissant, et envié, dans lequel Elle [se trouve,] cette amitié si réspéctable,3 me fait un d[evoir], q[uoi]q[ue] très amer, et très-douloureux d’annoncer à Monsieur Jefferson4 la perte irréparable que je viens d’en faire—L’afféction que le Savant, très célébre, et vénérable M[on]sieur Jefferson portoit à l’Être chéri de mon éxistence, j’en suis sur faira à son coeur magnanime, [e]t s[en]sible entendre les Sentimens d’une vraie douleur, de cette douleur qui pour moi est si forte, et profonde que dans la même intensité, et avec la même force m’accompagnera jusque au Tombeau, où j’irai non séulement réjoindre cét éxcellent Père, mais aussi mon éstimable5 Mère, et une Jeune Epouse affectionnée qui a suivi après vingtsix jours seulement ce tendre Beau-Père6 dans le chemin7 de l’Étérnité, me laissant8 avec trois petits Enfants en bas âge, et dans un vide immense,9 dans la plus cruelle Situation enfin,10 ou mortel puisse jamais se trouver.
Permettez-moi que je joigne ici, Monsieur,11 un éxémplaire de l’Annonce qui a été fait d’une perte si horrible en attendant que je puisse vous envoyer le portrait qu’on va faire en li[thograp]hie.12
Lorsque l’Eloge de cette Personne ch[erie]13 [qui ser]à fait par le prémier Orateur que la france [c]onnoisse dans ce moment Mr Géorge Cuvier qui lui avoit accordé son éstime,14 et son amitié15 au[ra été] publié, je ne manquerai pas de Vous en faire l’envoi, car je suis sur dans l’affliction que Vous eprou[verez pour] le trépas16 de cet Homme, que Vous cherissiez, et qui conservoit pour Vous la plus grande17 vénération, Vous Serez satisfait en voyant un apperçu de Ses [gran]des qualites, qui l’on fait distinguer jusque à ses derniers jours18 parmi les Savans de l’Europe.
Intimement persuadé19 que la mémoire de [mon] bon Père sera honorée par quelques larmes de Monsieur Jefferson, ce qui sera de beaume à mon coeur ulceré,20 je suis en même tems persuadé qu’il voudrà bien21 me pardonner la liberté que je me suis prise de lui écrire, et qu’il voudra aussi22 accueillir avec les doux sentimens de son grand23 coeur bon, et sensible ce douloureux hômmage d’un fils infortuné, et lui pérméttre en même tems d’avoir l’honneur vraiment distingué de pouvoir se signer avec la plus haute vénération, et le plus profond réspéct
Monsieur
| Léopold Pelli-fabbroni24 |
| Sécrétaire du Conseil Royal de Grace, et Justice à Florence |
Editors’ Translation
Florence 3. February 1823.
Sir
The old and honorable friendship that you were so kind as to bestow on my beloved father, and which he kept religiously, deep in his heart, as that of the eminent man of the century to whom America owes the preservation of its liberty and the flourishing and envied condition it now enjoys, this very respectable friendship obliges me out of duty, even if it is very bitter and painful, to announce to Mr. Jefferson the irreparable loss that I have just experienced. The affection that the learned, very famous, and venerable Mr. Jefferson had for the most cherished person in my life I am sure will cause his magnanimous and sympathetic heart to understand the feelings of real grief, a grief I feel so strongly and deeply and one which will accompany me with the same intensity and strength to the grave, where I hope to rejoin not only my excellent father, but also my estimable mother and beloved young wife, who followed her gentle father-in-law on the path to eternity only twenty-six days after him, leaving me with three young children and an immense emptiness, in the most cruel situation in which mortals can find themselves.
Allow me to enclose here, Sir, a copy of the notice of this horrible loss, while I wait to send you the portrait that is going to be made in lithograph.
The eulogy for this beloved person will be delivered by France’s greatest orator at this time, Mr. Georges Cuvier, who had granted him his esteem and friendship. As soon as it is published, I will not fail to send it to you, as I am certain that, while afflicted by the sorrow that you will certainly experience by the death of a man you cherished and who had for you the greatest veneration, you will be pleased to catch a glimpse of the qualities that until his last days distinguished him among the scholars of Europe.
Deeply convinced that the memory of my good father will be honored by a few tears from Mr. Jefferson, which will be a balm to my wounded heart, I am at the same time persuaded that he will forgive me for the liberty I take in writing to him, that he will receive with the tender feelings of his large, kind, and sensitive heart this painful homage of an unfortunate son, and that he at the same time will allow this son to have the truly distinguished honor of signing himself with the highest veneration and most profound respect
Sir
| Léopold Pelli-fabbroni |
| Secretary of the Royal Council of Mercy and Justice in Florence |
RC (DLC); mutilated, with missing text supplied from Dft; endorsed by TJ as received 6 May 1823 and so recorded in SJL. Dft (PPAmP: Thomas Jefferson Papers); at head of text: “à Jefferson”; adjacent to closing: “À Mr Thomas Jefferson Monticello en Virginie Etats-Unis d’Amerique”; with additional notation at foot of text: “N:B: fù spedita poi la presente li=5=Marzo 1823” (“N.B.: this was sent 5 March 1823”). Translation by Dr. Genevieve Moene. Enclosure: Obituary for Giovanni Fabbroni, Gazetta di Firenze, 31 Dec. 1822, supplement; clipping filed with RC of covering letter; in Italian; announcing the death from apoplexy of Giovanni Fabbroni on 17 Dec. 1822; describing his interest in nature, literature, agriculture, and political economy; listing many of his academic positions, including service as secretary of the Imperiale e Reale Accademia Economico-Agraria dei Georgofili di Firenze, director of Florence’s Reale Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale, honorary professor at the universities at Pisa and Vilnius, correspondent of the Institut de France, member of the Accademia Nationale delle Scienze, and numerous civic roles including Tuscan deputy to the Corps Législatif, director of the Florence mint, and commissioner of mines and ironworks; noting that he was a knight of the French légion d’honneur and a member of the Tuscan Order of Saint Joseph; highlighting the scope of his writings on subjects ranging from political economy to science; praising his personality and morals; indicating that his wife, Teresa Bencivenni Pelli Fabbroni, had predeceased him and that he had only one son, Leopoldo; observing that shortly before his death Fabbroni had been visited by Alexander von Humboldt; and concluding with an homage to Fabbroni’s mind and life’s work.
Leopoldo Pelli-Fabbroni (1786–1864), attorney and public official, was the son of TJ’s friend and correspondent, Giovanni Fabbroni. Pelli-Fabbroni was educated by his father and developed a keen interest in agriculture and political economy. He began his career in public service in 1809 as imperial procurator of Florence. By 1818 Pelli-Fabbroni sat on the Tuscan council of state, serving as its president, 1861–63. From at least 1833 he was a secretary, and later an adviser, of the Imperiale e Reale Accademia Economico-Agraria dei Georgofili di Firenze. Pelli-Fabbroni died in Florence (Francesco de Feo, ed., Atti della Reale Consulta di Stato del Granducato di Toscana (settembre 1847–aprile 1848) [1967; Acta Italica, vol. 13], xxvi; Memoires d’Agriculture, d’Économie Rurale et Domestique, publiés par la Société Royale et Centrale d’Agriculture, Année 1835 [1836]: 477; Continuazione degli Atti dèlla R. Accademia economico-agraria dei Georgofili di Firenze 4 [1857]: cxxxii; Turin Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d’Italia, 13 Jan. 1864).
1. RC and Dft: “réligéusement.”
2. Text from “qui etoit” to this point interlined in Dft in place of “qu’il conservoit religeusement pour” (“which he religiously kept for”).
3. Preceding four words interlined in Dft.
4. Text from “d’annoncer” to this point interlined in Dft in place of illegible phrase.
5. RC and Dft: “éxtimable.”
6. Text from “ce tendre” to this point interlined in Dft.
7. RC and Dft: “chemain.”
8. Recto of page one ends here with notation: “T:S:V:P:” (“Tournez S’il Vous Plait”) (“Please Turn Over”).
9. Preceding five words interlined in Dft.
10. Word interlined in Dft.
11. Sentence to this point interlined in Dft in place of illegible phrase.
12. Dft: “litographie.”
13. Preceding four words interlined in Dft.
14. RC and Dft: “éxtime.”
15. Text from “Mr Géorge” to this point interlined in Dft.
16. Preceding two words interlined in Dft in place of “la perte” (“the loss”).
17. Dft here adds “amitié accompagné des sentimens de la plus haute” (“friendship accompanied by sentiments of the highest”).
18. Text from “l’ont fait” to this point interlined in Dft in place of illegible phrase.
19. Preceding two words interlined in Dft in place of “Sur” (“Sure”).
20. Preceding nine words interlined in Dft.
21. Text from “qu’il” to this point interlined in Dft in place of illegible phrase.
22. Word interlined in Dft in place of “bien” (“well”).
23. Word added in margin of Dft.
24. Signature canceled in Dft.
Index Entries
- Accademia Nationale delle Scienze search
- apoplexy search
- Cuvier, Georges; and death of G. Fabbroni search
- Fabbroni, Giovanni Valentino Mattia; death of search
- Fabbroni, Giovanni Valentino Mattia; obituary sent to TJ search
- Florence, Italy; Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History search
- France; Corps Législatif search
- French language; letters in, from; L. Pelli-Fabbroni search
- health; apoplexy search
- Humboldt, Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander, Baron von; friendship with G. Fabbroni search
- Imperiale e Reale Accademia Economico-Agraria dei Georgofili di Firenze; members of search
- Institut de France; members of search
- Pelli-Fabbroni, Leopoldo; and death of G. Fabbroni search
- Pelli-Fabbroni, Leopoldo; family of search
- Pelli-Fabbroni, Leopoldo; identified search
- Pelli-Fabbroni, Leopoldo; letter from search
- Pelli Fabbroni, Teresa Bencivenni; death of search
- Pisa, Italy; university in search
- schools and colleges; Vilnius University search
- Vilnius University search