Saint Pier Giorgio Frassati

Life story

Pier Giorgio Frassati was born on 6 April 1901 in Turin, Piedmont, into a wealthy family. His father, Alfredo Frassati, owned and directed the daily newspaper La Stampa and was later a senator and ambassador; his mother, Adelaide Ametis, was a painter. He attended a Jesuit school and then studied mining engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin.

Alongside his studies he joined the St Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Action and Catholic student groups. He regularly visited poor families in Turin and helped them. He was also known for his love of the mountains, climbing with a group of friends who jokingly called themselves the Tipi Loschi. In 1922 he became a lay Dominican.

In July 1925 he contracted acute polio, probably while visiting the poor, and died on 4 July 1925 in Turin, aged twenty-four. According to those close to him, great numbers of the city's poor came to his funeral, which surprised his family, who had not known the full extent of his charity.

Pier Giorgio was beatified on 20 May 1990 and canonised by Pope Leo XIV on 7 September 2025 in Rome, on the same day as Carlo Acutis. He did not follow his father into the family newspaper and avoided any show of wealth, often travelling in third class. After his death his sister Luciana wrote a biography based on his letters and on the accounts of friends, which helped make his story known across Italy and beyond.

Works and witness

• Studied mining engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin
• Member of the St Vincent de Paul Society, visiting poor families
• Lay Dominican from 1922
• Died of polio on 4 July 1925

Saints from the same country

Saint Agnes, Saint Lawrence, Saint Cecilia, Saint Sebastian

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
• Luciana Frassati, A Man of the Beatitudes: Pier Giorgio Frassati

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.