Ferdinando Palasciano

Ferdinando Palasciano (June 13, 1815 - November 28, 1891) was an Italian physician and politician, considered one of the forerunners of the foundation of the Red Cross.

Biography

Born in Capua (Campania, then part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), he graduated early in Literature and Philosophy, Veterinary Science and, finally, in Medicine and Surgery.

In 1848 he fought in the Bourbon army against the Risorgimental riots of 1848. However, his help to wounded went against the Royal orders, and he risked to be executed for insubordination. He declared:

Thanks to the intervention of King Ferdinand II, the condemn was commuted into one year of jail in Reggio Calabria. Palasciano's later discourse at the International Congress at the Accademia Pontoniana of Naples (1861), had a widespread echo in the whole Europe and was at the base of the First Geneva Convention which founded the Red Cross (1864).

In 1865 he was appointed as Professor of Surgical Chemistry at the University of Naples and in 1883 he was among the founders of the Italian Surgical Society.

During the Expedition of Thousand, Palasciano was called by Giuseppe Garibaldi to cure a malleolus wound that he received while fighting on the Aspromonte mountains. The two made friends and started an epistolary correspondence now housed in the museum of San Martino, Naples.

He was also a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and Senate, and counsellor at the "comune" of Naples.

Around 1886 Palasciano developed dementia. He died in 1891 and was buried in the square of illustrious figure in Poggioreale Cemetery, Naples.