James Bowdoin III (September 22, 1752 – October 11, 1811) was an American philanthropist and statesman from

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He was born to

James Bowdoin James Bowdoin II ( ; August 7, 1726 – November 6, 1790) was an American political and intellectual leader from Boston, Massachusetts, during the American Revolution and the following decade. He initially gained fame and influence as a wealth ...

in Boston, and graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1771. James then studied law at

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and traveled widely in Europe until 1775. When he got the news of the

Battle of Lexington The Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 were the first major military actions of the American Revolutionary War between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot militias from America's Thirteen Co ...

he returned home. He served in the Massachusetts state legislature and on the council before attending the Massachusetts’ constitutional convention in 1779 and 1780, and was a candidate in five elections to the U.S. House in 1792, 1793, and 1796. James devoted several years to scholarly pursuits, until he was appointed the

United States Ambassador to Spain The most recent ambassador was Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, she was sworn in by United States Vice President, Vice President Kamala Harris on January 7, 2022, and presented her credentials on February 2, 2022. This is a list of Ambassadors of t ...

in 1804. He arrived in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

in May, 1805 but never actually assumed the post of ambassador.United States Department of State list of ambassadors to Spain
/ref> In March 1806 he and John Armstrong of New York were named commissioners to negotiate boundaries and other issues with Spain. He returned home in 1808 when the talks in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ended without success. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1786. When

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. It was chartered in 1794. The main Bowdoin campus is located near Casco Bay and the Androscoggin River. In a ...

was founded in Maine, he gave the new school 6,000 acres (24 km²) and $5,500. When he died, he also bequeathed his considerable library, papers, mineral collection, scientific apparatus and art collection to the school. He died in 1811 on

Naushon Island Naushon Island is the largest of the Elizabeth Islands in southeastern Massachusetts. It is part of the town of Gosnold, Massachusetts, and is currently owned by the Forbes family. As of the 2000 census, the island had a permanent population of ...

Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts Buzzards Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bourne in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,859 at the 2010 census. It is the most populous of the five CDPs in Bourne. Geography Buzzards Bay i ...

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