Giuseppe Morosini (19 March 1913 – 13 April 1944) was an Italian

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

. He was ordained to the sacred priesthood in 1937 at St. John Lateran's Basilica, becoming chaplain of the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

's 4th Artillery Regiment in 1941, but was transferred to the

city of Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1941 to help with youths who were displaced by the war. He soon joined the

Italian resistance movement The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

. He was arrested by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

and imprisoned, tortured and, despite pressure from the Vatican, executed. He received a posthumous medal, a plaza in Rome was named after him, and Italy issued a postage stamp in his honor in 1997. In the movie "

Rome, Open City ''Rome, Open City'' ( it, Roma città aperta, also released as ''Open City'') is a 1945 Italian neorealist war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Sergio Amidei, Celeste Negarville and Federico Fellini. Set in Rome in 19 ...

" by

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...

the character of Don Pietro, the priest who assists the Italian Resistance and is later captured and murdered by the Nazis was based on the life of Fr. Morosini.

References

1913 births 1944 deaths People from Ferentino 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Italian resistance movement members Italian civilians killed in World War II Royal Italian Army chaplains {{christianity-bio-stub