Francesco Faà di Bruno
Italian priest (1825–1888)
Feast: 27 March (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Francesco Faà di Bruno was born at Alessandria on 29 March 1825 into a family of the military nobility. Before becoming a priest he was an officer in the Savoy army, a professor at the University of Turin, an architect and mathematician, and an adviser to the royal house.
He founded the St Zita work for domestic servants and a home for unmarried mothers, always joining his skill as a mathematician and physicist to works of charity. He was ordained in Rome on 22 October 1876.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A scientist and officer who put his learning at the service of the poorest women of Turin.
The cause
Francesco Faà di Bruno has been beatified; the cause continues. Favours received, and offers of help, go to the postulation, the office that carries the cause forward: Minim Sisters of Our Lady of Suffrage: Blessed Francesco Faa di Bruno.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Francesco Faà di Bruno
- Wikidata Q604679 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Francesco Faà di Bruno (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.