Maria Paternò Arezzo (11 December 1869,

Ragusa Ibla Ragusa (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Ragusa, on the island of Sicily, with 73,778 inhabitants as of 2025. It is built on a wide limestone hill between two deep valleys, Cava San Leonardo ...

, Sicily — 28 December 1908,

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

Princess Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for ...

of Castellaci, was an Italian philanthropist and noblewoman belonging to the House of Paternò, who is renowned for her charity bequest to build a hospital for the poor in her city of birth. She was the daughter of Giuseppe Maria Alvaro Paternò, the 5th Prince of Sperlinga and 13th Baron of Manganelli, and of Vincenzina Arezzo of the barons of Donnafugata. She died when she was only 39 years old, without leaving an heir, under the rubble of the

1908 Messina earthquake A devastating earthquake occurred on 28 December 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The epicentre was in the Strait of Messina which separates Sicily f ...

together with her husband Francesco Marullo Balsamo, Prince of Castellaci and Count of Condojanni.

Biography

Some years earlier she had willed as her bequest a huge estate intended for the construction of the first hospital in

Ragusa Ragusa may refer to: Places Croatia * Ragusa, Dalmatia, the historical name of the city of Dubrovnik * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Ragusa Vecchia, historical Italian name of Cavtat, a t ...

, which was to be of service by ensuring at least 30 beds for the care and aid of the city's needy. The hospital was completed in 1923, and then was united with the Civil Hospital as the Azienda Ospedaliera Civile–Maria Paternò Arezzo: it is an important general hospital pioneering advanced treatments. On the façade of Palazzo Arezzo in

, a marble commemorative stone has been placed in her memory, and a street in Ragusa Ibla is dedicated to her. The municipality, in concert with the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, has organized celebrations in her memory.sosed.eu
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Bibliography

* AA.VV., ''Il Castello di Donnafugata a Ragusa'', Ragusa, Angelica Editore, 2002.

Note

External links

Family tree of Maria Paternò Arezzo and Marullo

*http://www.carlomarullodicondojanni.net/famiglia/FamigliaCap5.htm. {{DEFAULTSORT:Paterno Arezzo, Maria 1869 births 1908 deaths People from Ragusa, Sicily Italian philanthropists Italian women philanthropists Sicilian princesses Natural disaster deaths in Italy 20th-century philanthropists 19th-century philanthropists Victims of the 1908 Messina earthquake Deaths due to building and structure collapses