Fisichella family

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Fisichella is an Italian noble family, forming part of the Sicilian nobility.[2][3][4][5] Members of the family include multiple judges and prelates, among them a justice of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Sicily and an archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church.

Fisichella
Italian noble family
Country Italy
Former countries
EtymologyMedieval Latin: physicus, lit.'physician'
Place of originVal di Catania
Founded17th century
TitlesBaron
Style(s)"Don"
Arms of the House of Fisichella
Versions
ShieldAzure, a tree proper topped by a turtle dove argent perched.[1]
Italian: Arma d'azzurro, con albero al naturale sormontato da una tortora appollaiata d'argento.[2][3][4]

History

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Coat of arms of Rino Fisichella
 
Adopted1998
ShieldGules, a tree proper eradicated, fructed or, topped by a dove argent volant, a label of the same tincture.[1]
Italian: Arma di rosso, all'albero sradicato al naturale, fruttato d'oro, sormontato da una colomba volante con le ali spiegate d'argento, al lambello dello stesso.[6]
MottoLatin: VIAM VERITATIS ELEGI
('I have chosen the way of truth')
Other elementsExternal ornaments for archbishops
Inspired by the family arms.[6]

The House of Fisichella, originally from the Val di Catania, has long been prominent in the fields of diplomacy, jurisprudence, philosophy and theology.

Among the family's forefathers, at the beginning of the 17th century Domenico Fisichella was chaplain at the monasterium album of Campanarazzu, Misterbianco, and later at the local St. Nicholas Church,[7][8] while Francesco Fisichella was ambassador of the city of Catania to the royal court of Madrid since 1671.[5][9]

In the 18th century, two renowned members of the family were both named Giuseppe Fisichella: the elder was referred to as 'signore don' around 1718,[10] whereas the younger, namely Giuseppe Maria Fisichella, served as justice of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Sicily in the years 1770, 1771, 1772 and 1782.[3][11][12][9]

Among his nephews, in the 19th century a namesake was giudice circondariale – that is commissioner and judge – of Centorbi and Mascali, in 1826 and 1830, respectively,[13][14] while Ignazio Fisichella was Deputy Secretary of the General Prosecution Office of the Kingdom of Italy at the Catania Appeal Court, and later Clerk to the civil and criminal court of Nicosia.[a]

Meanwhile, three members of the family have been prominent in other fields, such as Francesco Fisichella [it][9][15] (1841–1908), priest, philosopher and jurist, Domenico Fisichella[9][15][16] (born 1935), academic and influential politician, minister and later senator of the Italian Republic, and Salvatore Fisichella[9][15] (born 1943), renowned operatic tenor.

In the 20th century, two cadet branches branched off from the main line, whose family seat is located in Militello in Val di Catania, moving to Lombardy and Lazio, respectively; the first is represented by Rino Fisichella[b][6][17][9] (born 1951), academic, theologian and archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, while the second by Giancarlo Fisichella[c][18][19][20][21][22][9] (born 1973), famous athlete.

Onomastics

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A mysterious "baron Fisichella"[23] appears several times in Leonardo Sciascia's historical novel The council of Egypt [it], played in the homonymous film [it] by Gilberto Idonea [it].

Notes and references

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Notes

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  1. ^ Mentioned in several numbers of the Official Gazette of the Kingdom of Italy: N. 77 (1876), N. 287 (1897).
  2. ^ Genealogy: son of Paolo Fisichella, who moved to Codogno in 1948.[17][15]
  3. ^ Genealogy: son of Roberto Fisichella (†2015), who moved to Pietralata.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b Parker, James, A GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN HERALDRY, retrieved 29 November 2023
  2. ^ a b Palizzolo Gravina (1875)
  3. ^ a b c Mango (1912)
  4. ^ a b Famiglie Nobili di Sicilia
  5. ^ a b Ligresti (2006)
  6. ^ a b c "Stemma Mons. Fisichella", Forum dell'Istituto Araldico Genealogico Italiano (in Italian), 21 June 2008, retrieved 29 November 2023
  7. ^ Luca Marchese (in Italian), 22 May 1600, retrieved 29 November 2023
  8. ^ La reliquia [The relic] (in Italian), retrieved 29 November 2023
  9. ^ a b c d e f g PalermoToday
  10. ^ Ventura (2009)
  11. ^ Cancila (2013)
  12. ^ Boglino (1889)
  13. ^ Ripartimento Polizia (1826)
  14. ^ Ripartimento Polizia (1830)
  15. ^ a b c d e MyHeritage
  16. ^ Stella, Gian Antonio (21 June 2019), "La tarantella di Fisichella: "Non c'è democrazia senza le aristocrazie"", Corriere della Sera (in Italian), retrieved 29 November 2023
  17. ^ a b Paticchio, Vincenzo (20 May 2016), "Mons. Rino Fisichella" (PDF), Trinità e Liberazione (in Italian), pp. 22–25, retrieved 29 November 2023
  18. ^ Fisichella Giancarlo – ITALIA (in Italian), Associazione Museo Nicolis, 3 March 2018, retrieved 29 November 2023, Di antica famiglia nobile siciliana, dei Fisichella appunto
  19. ^ Giancarlo Fisichella: biografia e curiosità su pilota (in Italian), 13 August 2018, retrieved 29 November 2023, Giancarlo Fisichella appartiene alla nobile famiglia siciliana omonima
  20. ^ Tanti auguri a Giancarlo Fisichella (in Italian), 14 January 2018, archived from the original on 12 January 2021, retrieved 29 November 2023, Giancarlo Fisichella è nato a Roma il 14 gennaio 1973 da una nobile famiglia di origine siciliana
  21. ^ Tedde, Giovanna (26 November 2018), Chi è Giancarlo Fisichella, il pilota tra amori e… nobiltà (in Italian), retrieved 29 November 2023, Il campione ha origini importanti, poiché appartiene alla nobile famiglia dei Fisichella di Sicilia
  22. ^ Caruso, Daniela (13 November 2019), Chi è Giancarlo Fisichella? (in Italian), retrieved 29 November 2023, Il pilota ha origini nobili, poiché fa parte della famiglia Fisichella originaria della Sicilia
  23. ^ Sciascia (1989)

Bibliography

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Heraldic literature

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Non-fiction

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Historical fiction

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Chronicle

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See also

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  • "Fisichella", Famiglie Nobili di Sicilia (in Italian), archived from the original on 3 April 2014, retrieved 29 November 2023{{citation}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  • "Family tree", MyHeritage, retrieved 29 November 2023
  • Miranda, Francesco (19 October 2020), "Fisichella: Riferimenti storici e personaggi" [Fisichella: Historical references and characters], L'origine dei cognomi: Pilo, Leocata, Corrao, Fisichella [The origin of the surnames: Pilo, Leocata, Corrao, Fisichella], Cognomen omen (in Italian), Palermo: CityNews, retrieved 29 November 2023 – via PalermoToday