ABSTRACT
The friendship between Thomas Jefferson and the Abbe Correa da Serra involves an enigma, a mystery, and a remarkable historical coincidence. If you visit Monticello, Jefferson's mountaintop mansion in Virginia, you will see the grave of Jefferson, surmounted by the obelisk he designed. It is inscribed with the epitaph he wrote for himself. Jefferson did not want to be remembered for being president of the United States, or for being secretary of state, or the u.S. ambassador in Paris on the eve of the French Revolution. The three things he wished to see recorded on his obelisk are: first, that he was the author of the Declaration of Independence; second, that he wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom; and, third, that he was the father of the University of Virginia. These achievements of Jefferson's career of which he was most proud help unravel the enigma, the mystery, and the coincidence that is involved in the relationship between these two men.
