Foresti, E. Felice, an Italian patriot, born at Conselice, near Ferrara, about 1793, died in Genoa, Sept, 14, 1858. He took the degree of doctor of laws at the university of Bologna, and practised as a criminal lawyer before the tribunals of Ferrara. In 1816 he was appointed praetor of Crespino in the Austrian dominions, He entered into a conspiracy to deliver Italy from Austrian rule; but this being betrayed by an associate, Foresti and several others were arrested and thrown into prison in Venice in 1819. After two years' confinement they were brought to trial and condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to 20 years' imprisonment. They were kept until January, 1822, on the island of St. Michael, when they were taken to the fortress of Spielberg in Moravia. The hardships which they here endured have been narrated by Silvio Pellico in Le mie prigioni. In 1835 their punishment was commuted by the emperor Ferdinand to perpetual exile in America. They landed at New York near the end of October, 1830, where Foresti soon became a favorite in society, was appointed professor of the Italian language and literature in Columbia college, and for more than 20 years was a popular teacher in academies and private circles.

For the use of his pupils he published a Crestomazia italiana (12mo, New York, 1847). In 1848 he went to Europe, but returned in 1849. Failing health having impelled him to seek a milder climate, he sailed for Genoa, where he was appointed United States consul, in the spring of 1858.