BALSAMO, FERDINANDO. - Priest, born at Roziano Gravina on 7 September 1826, died at Cosenza on 7 November 1869. Under Bourbon rule, he combined pastoral zeal with a lively love of country and educated the youth in patriotic ideals. In philosophy he was a follower of Gioberti and firmly believed that no obstacle existed between Catholic doctrine and the sound achievements of reason.
In the Preface to *Il Cristiano Cittadino* (1861), he declared that «these discourses were an indirect apology of Christianity, aiming solely to make palpable the harmony between Christian thought and all that is true and good in civil science: Religion and Fatherland are shown to be united by a divine bond, and the pulpit of the Gospel was at the same time the tribune of the people.»