Pier Giorgio Frassati – social activist

Brave Catholic has inspired youth of the world

Pier Giorgio Frassati came from a wealthy
background but fought for social justice

Pier Giorgio Frassati, who was dedicated to social justice issues and spent his brief life helping the poor, was born on this day in 1901 in Turin.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1990, who dubbed him ‘the Man of the Eight Beatitudes,’ alluding to a passage in the Gospel According to Matthew.

Frassati’s father, Alfredo, owned the newspaper La Stampa, and his mother Adelaide, was a painter, whose works were purchased by King Victor Emmanuel III.

Although he was from a wealthy background, even as a child Frassati showed compassion for the poor. He was educated at a school run by Jesuits and grew up to become dedicated to social action as a means of combating inequalities.

He was an ardent opponent of Fascism and was arrested in Rome for protesting with the Young Catholic Workers Congress, continuing to hold his banner aloft while being attacked by the police.

One night a group of Fascists broke into his family’s home to attack him and his father, but Frassati fought them off single-handedly and chased them away down the street.

Frassati in the office of his father, who
owned the newspaper, La Stampa

He joined Catholic Action in 1919 and later became a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was devoted to the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, Catherine of Siena and Paul the Apostle.

He believed charity was not enough and called for social reform, joining the St Vincent de Paul Group so he could help the poor, frequently giving away his own and his family’s money.

After he had obtained a degree in engineering, which he had chosen to study with the intention of improving working conditions for miners, he was offered a gift by his father of either a car or a sum of money. He chose money so that he could give it to the poor rather than keep it himself.

A man of athletic build, he loved swimming and mountaineering and, as a member of Club Alpino Italiano, climbed the Grand Tournalin and Monte Viso, two peaks in northeast Italy.

In June 1925, while boating with friends on the Po River, Frassati complained of sharp pains in his back muscles.

He was diagnosed with poliomyelitis and died four days later, in his mother’s arms, aged just 24. The streets of Turin were lined with thousands of people wishing to pay their respects as his funeral cortege went past on its way to the Frassati plot in the Pollone Cimitero, where he was initially buried.

In 1981 his remains were transferred to Turin Cathedral and were apparently found on inspection to be incorrupt - that is, not having been affected by decomposition, supposedly because of divine intervention.

Frassati's tomb in Turin Cathedral, where his remains
were transferred in 1981, prior to his beatification

The people of Turin had pleaded for him to be canonised and his cause was originally opened in 1932. However, it was suspended in 1941 by Pope Pius XII due to false allegations made about his moral conduct. The cause was eventually resumed and Frassati was made a Servant of God in 1978 and was proclaimed Venerable in 1987. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in St Peter’s Square in 1990.

Frassati is now a patron of students, mountaineers and youth groups. Several schools and colleges in America and Australia have been named after him, where he is seen as an excellent role model for young men.

The Royal Palace - Palazzo Reale - in Turin was built by
the Savoy family in the 16th century

Travel tip:

Frassati was born in Turin the year after King Victor Emmanuel III came to the throne of Italy. The city’s fine architecture illustrates its rich history as the home of the Savoy Kings of Italy. Piazza Castello, with the Royal Palace, Royal Library and Palazzo Madama, which used to house the Italian senate, is at the heart of ‘royal’ Turin. The Royal Palace – the Palazzo Reale – was built on the site of what had been the Bishop’s Palace, built by Emmanuel Philibert, who was Duke of Savoy from 1528 to 1580. He chose the site because it had an open and sunny position close to other court buildings.

Frassati's final resting place was Turin Cathedral, which
is most famous for being the home of the Turin Shroud

Travel tip:

Frassati’s final resting place was in Turin Cathedral, il Duomo di Torino, or Cattedrale di San Giovanni Battista, as it is also known. The Cathedral was built between 1491 and 1498 in Piazza San Giovanni in Turin, on the site of an old Roman theatre and adjacent to an earlier campanile built in 1470. The Chapel of the Holy Shroud, where the Turin Shroud is kept, was added in 1668. Some members of the House of Savoy are buried in the Duomo while others are buried in the Basilica di Superga on the outskirts of the city.

More reading:

How the Blessed Vincent Romano devoted himself to helping the poor of Naples

The inspirational figure of Saint John Bosco

Francesco Faà di Bruno's life as an advocate for poor

Also on this day:

1483: The birth of Renaissance genius Raphael

1726: The birth of Saint Gerard Majella

1957: The birth of the race walking Damilano twins


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5 April

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere - condottiero

Soldier who fathered Cosimo I de' Medici

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, the military leader regarded as the last of the great Italian condottieri, was born on this day in 1498. The condottieri were professional soldiers who hired themselves out to lead the armies of the Italian city-states and the Papacy in the frequent wars that ensued from the Middle Ages through to the Renaissance. Giovanni spent much of his military career in the service of Pope Leo X, the Medici pope. Indeed, he was a Medici himself. Baptised Ludovico, he was the son of Giovanni de’ Medici. His mother, Caterina Sforza, the powerful daughter of the Duke of Milan, renamed him Giovanni in memory of his father. He became Giovanni dalle Bande Nere much later, when he added black stripes to his military insignia in a show of mourning for Pope Leo X. His son, Cosimo, would go on to be Cosimo I de’ Medici, the first Grand Duke of Tuscany. Read more…

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Vincenzo Viviani – mathematician and scientist

Galileo follower's name lives on as moon crater

Forward-thinking scientist Vincenzo Viviani was born on this day in 1622 in Florence. Viviani worked as an assistant to Galileo Galilei and after his mentor's death continued his experimental work in the field of mathematics and physics. This work was considered so important that Viviani has had a small crater on the moon named after him. In 1660 Viviani conducted an experiment with another scientist, Giovanni Borelli, to determine the speed of sound by timing the difference between seeing the flash and hearing the noise of a cannon being fired from a distance. As his reputation as a mathematician grew, Viviani started to receive job offers from abroad but stayed in Italy as court mathematician to Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici. He also published a book on engineering. Read more...

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Vincenzo Gioberti - philosopher and politician

Writings helped bring about unification of Italy

Vincenzo Gioberti, a philosopher regarded as one of the key figures in the Italian unification, was born on this day in 1801 in Turin. He became prime minister of Sardinia-Piedmont in December 1848, albeit for only two months. Although he was an associate of the republican revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini - and was arrested and then exiled as a result - he did not agree with Mazzini’s opposition to the monarchy and was not an advocate of violence. However, he was staunchly in favour of a united Italy, particularly because of his conviction that Italians represented a superior race, intellectually and morally, and that by pulling together as one nation they could assert a profound influence on civilisation that would benefit the world. His book, Del Primato civile e morale degli Italiani (The civic and moral primacy of the Italians), is said to have helped give momentum to the unification campaign. Read more...

4 April

Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli - composer

Neapolitan who snubbed Napoleon wrote 37 operas

The composer Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, who wrote 37 mainly comic operas and more than 500 pieces of sacred music, was born on this day in 1752 in Naples. His success made him one of the principal composers of opera and religious music of his time. At various points in his career, he was maestro di cappella - music director - at Milan Cathedral, choir master at the Sistine Chapel and director of the Naples Conservatory. Many of Zingarelli’s operas were written for Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Early in his career he worked in Paris, which held him in good stead later when he was arrested after refusing to conduct a hymn for the newly-born son of the Emperor Napoleon, who at the time was the self-proclaimed King of Italy. Read more…

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Daniela Riccardi - leading Italian businesswoman

Head of luxury glassware company trained as a ballet dancer

Born on this day in 1960, Daniela Riccardi is chief executive of Baccarat, the luxury glass and crystal manufacturer that originated in the town of the same name in the Lorraine region of France in the 18th century. Formerly CEO of the Italian clothing company Diesel, she is one of Italy's most successful businesswomen, yet might easily have forged alternative careers as a dancer or a diplomat. She studied ballet for 12 years at the National Dance Academy in Rome, went to Rome University to study political science and international studies, with the aim of working in diplomacy, only to switch to a business career after spending a brief period as an intern at Pepsi. Read more…

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Francesco De Gregori - singer-songwriter

Performer inspired by songs of hero Bob Dylan

The singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori - popularly known as "Il Principe dei cantautori" (the prince of the singer-songwriters) – was born on this day in 1951 in Rome. De Gregori has released around 40 albums in a career spanning 45 years, selling more than five million records. Famous for the elegant and often poetic nature of his lyrics, De Gregori was once described by Bob Dylan as an “Italian folk hero”. De Gregori acknowledges Dylan as one if his biggest inspirations and influences, along with Leonard Cohen and the Italian singer Fabrizio de André.  Covers of Dylan songs have regularly featured in his stage performances. He made an album in 2015 entitled Love and Theft: De Gregori Sings Bob Dylan. Read more…

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Irene Pivetti – journalist and politician

From top political office to TV presenter

Irene Pivetti, who was only the second woman to become president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, was born on this day in 1963 in Milan. Once a key figure in Italy’s Lega Nord party, Pivetti has now quit politics for a career as a television presenter. While working as a journalist, she became involved with the Lega Lombardia (Lombard League), which later became the Lega Nord (Northern League) and in 1992 was elected as a deputy, the Italian equivalent of a Member of Parliament. Two years later, Pivetti was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. At the age of 31, she was the youngest president in the Chamber’s history. She occupied the role from 1994 to 1996. Read more...

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Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli - composer

Neapolitan who snubbed Napoleon wrote 37 operas

Niccolò Zingarelli was one of the most
successful composers of his time

The composer Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, who wrote 37 mainly comic operas and more than 500 pieces of sacred music, was born on this day in 1752 in Naples.

His success made him one of the principal composers of opera and religious music of his time. At various points in his career, he was maestro di cappella - music director - at Milan Cathedral, choir master at the Sistine Chapel and director of the Naples Conservatory.

Many of Zingarelli’s operas were written for Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Early in his career he worked in Paris, which held him in good stead later when he was arrested after refusing to conduct a hymn for the newly-born son of the Emperor Napoleon, who at the time was the self-proclaimed King of Italy.

Sometimes known as Nicola, the young Zingarelli studied from the age of seven at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, which was the original conservatory of Naples, dating back to 1537. He was tutored by Fedele Fenaroli, whose pupils also included Domenico Cimarosa and, later, Giuseppe Verdi, and also by Alessandro Speranza.

As a young man, Zingarelli earned a living as a violinist, while also composing. His first opera, Montezuma, was successfully produced at Teatro di San Carlo in Naples in 1781. Four years later Alsinda was staged at La Scala, the first of a series of his operas produced there until 1803.

Zingarelli refused to conduct a service for
Napoleon's new son at the Sistine Chapel

In 1789, he was invited to Paris to compose Antigone to a libretto by Jean-François Marmontel for the Opéra. He might have stayed longer in Paris had the French Revolution not driven him to Switzerland.

From there he returned to Milan, where in 1793 he became music director at the Duomo.

A year later, Zingarelli moved again, to take up the post of maestro di cappella at the Basilica della Santa Casa in Loreto, in Marche, an important and prestigious position at the time. He stayed there for 10 years, composing a large number of sacred works, at the same time continuing to write operas for La Scala and other theatres.

When he left Loreto, it was to become music director and choir master at the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where he composed cantatas on poems by Torquato Tasso and Dante.

It was in Rome that he wrote Berenice (1811), an opera that achieved great popularity, although two operas he composed for La Scala, Il mercato di Monfregoso (1792), based on a play by Carlo Goldoni, and Giulietta e Romeo (1796), inspired by William Shakespeare’s play, are said to be his finest work.

It was in 1811 that he was asked to conduct a Te Deum - a short religious service, held to bless an event or give thanks, which is based on the Latin hymn of the same name - for Napoleon, to celebrate the emperor’s new-born son.  As an Italian patriot, however, he felt he could not and, as a consequence of his public refusal, was arrested.

As it happened, though, Napoleon was a fan of his music and not only allowed Zingarelli to go free, he also awarded him a state pension.

In 1813, he left Rome to return to Naples, where he became director of the Conservatorio di San Sebastiano, before moving to the current site, the Conservatorio di San Pietro a Majella, in 1826. By then, he had also replaced Giovanni Paisiello as choir master of Naples Cathedral, a position he held until his death, in 1837, in Torre del Greco, just along the coast.

The huge Basilica della Santa Casa sits at the highest point
of Loreto and therefore dominates the skyline

Travel tip:

The hill town of Loreto, about 5km (3 miles) inland from the Adriatic coast about 25km (16 miles) south of Ancona and a similar distance north of Civitanova Marche, is easily identified from a distance away by the dome of the basilica, which stands taller than anything else in the area. The Basilica della Santa Casa takes its name from the rustic stone cottage that once occupied its site - and indeed is preserved inside the structure of the cathedral - which was said to be the place of refuge to which angels brought the Madonna as a safe haven after the Saracens who had invaded the Holy Land. The beautiful basilica itself is a late Gothic structure upon which Giuliano da Maiano, Giuliano da Sangallo and Donato Bramante all worked at different times. Inside, there are artworks by Luca Signorelli and Lorenzo Lotto, who died there in 1556.

Torre del Greco was once a thriving upmarket seaside
resort, as depicted in this late 19th century postcard

Travel tip:

Torre del Greco was once part of Magna Graecia – Great Greece – in the eighth and seventh centuries BC but its name is thought to originated in the 11th century AD when a Greek hermit was said to have occupied an eight-sided coastal watch tower called Turris Octava. From the 16th century it became popular with wealthy families and even Italian nobility, who built elaborate summer palaces there. The area is largely run down these days but in the 19th century and early 20th century Torre del Greco enjoyed its peak years as a resort to which wealthy Italians flocked, both to enjoy the sea air and as a point from which to scale Vesuvius via a funicular railway. A thriving café scene developed, and the art nouveau Gran Caffè Palumbo became famous across the country.  Since the 17th century it has been a major producer of coral jewellery.

More reading:

Why Carlo Goldoni is seen as the greatest Venetian dramatist

The story of the troubled Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso

How Domenico Cimarosa developed the model for comic opera

Also on this day:

1951: The birth of singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori

1960: The birth of businesswoman Daniela Riccardi

1963: The birth of politician and journalist Irene Pivetti


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