Giovanni Andrea Serrao (4 February 1731 – 24 February 1799) was an Italian intellectual and churchman of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

who supported the

Parthenopaean Republic The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the ...

of 1799.

Biography

Early life and ordination

Giovanni Andrea Serrao was born in Castel Monardo. Studying first in Castel Monardo, then in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, he became friends with

Antonio Genovesi Antonio Genovesi (1 November 171322 September 1769) was an Italian writer on philosophy and political economy. Biography Son of Salvatore Genovese, a shoemaker, and Adriana Alfinito of San Mango, Antonio Genovesi was born in Castiglione, near ...

Domenico Cirillo Domenico Maria Leone Cirillo FRS (Grumo Nevano, Kingdom of Naples 10 April 1739Naples 29 October 1799) was an Italian physician, entomologist, botanist and patriot. Professional life Appointed while still young to a botanical professorship, C ...

, Mario Pagano and

Forges Davanzati Forges or Les Forges may refer to: In Belgium *Forges, Belgium, a village and a former municipality that is now a part of Chimay, Wallonia In France *Forges, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department *Forges, Maine-et-Loire, in the ...

. From 1758 to 1788 he wrote various works in Latin supporting the democratic concessions in the Papal States and opposing the Roman Curia. After a year of harsh polemics, he was nominated to be

bishop of Potenza The Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo ( la, Archidioecesis Potentina-Murana-Marsicensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Basilicata, southern Italy, created in 1986. In that year the Diocese of Muro Lucano was unite ...

on 18 July 1783.

Earthquake

Finding himself in Rome waiting to take possession of his diocese, news reached him of the earthquake of 28 March 1783 which had (among others) destroyed all the centres of Calabria, his native land. Despite having been debilitated by a fall, he urged his brothers to abandon the old and destroyed site of Castel Monardo and found a new one at a place to be named piano della Gorna. Elaborating the plan for the new town, outlined by his brother Francescantonio, he arranged for a new Pubblico Sedile to be set up in the central piazza at his family's expense and suggested the name of

Filadelfia Filadelfia () is the capital of Boquerón Department in the Gran Chaco of western Paraguay. It is the centre of the Fernheim Colony. It is about a 5-hour drive from the capital of Asunción. With a population of about 20,000, it is the largest t ...

for the new town (drawing the idea from king

Ferdinand IV of Naples Ferdinand I (12 January 1751 – 4 January 1825) was the King of the Two Sicilies from 1816, after his restoration following victory in the Napoleonic Wars. Before that he had been, since 1759, Ferdinand IV of the Kingdom of Naples and Ferdinand ...

Parthenopaean Republic

Taking an active part in the Parthenopaean Republic of 1799, the most illustrious figures in the new state wished him to become Commissario Civile in

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...

. On 24 February 1799 he was murdered in Potenza by his own guard and his head carried through the streets of the town. Giovanni Andrea Serrao is mentioned in Dumas' novel ''La Sanfelice''.

Sources

* Forges-Davanzati, ''Giovanni Andrea Serrao'', Bari, Laterza, 1937 *

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

, La Sanfelice, Milano, Adelphi, 1999, due voll., {{DEFAULTSORT:Serrao, Giovanni Andrea 1731 births 1799 deaths People from the Province of Vibo Valentia Bishops in Basilicata Jansenists 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Italian murder victims