New York's first professor of Italian literature
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Lorenzo da Ponte: the scandalous life of the man who wrote Mozart's words
8. New York's first professor of Italian literature
He gained an appointment as the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia College. He was the first Roman Catholic priest to be appointed to the faculty, and also the first to have been born a Jew! In New York he introduced opera and produced a performance of 'Don Giovanni'. He also introduced Rossini's music to Americans, through a concert tour with his niece Giulia Da Ponte.
