BESOZZI, Giampietro. – Ascetical writer, born in Milan from a noble family in 1503, died there in the reputation of holiness in 1584. He belonged to the roll of the city’s notaries and practiced as a lawyer. He became a Barnabite, while his wife entered the Angeliche of St Paul. In 1546 he was proposed for the government of his Congregation, an office repeatedly renewed to him. He was a close friend of St Charles Borromeo and a sought-after counsellor of eminent persons. He defended his Order from accusations and calumnies, favoured by St Pius V and St Ignatius of Loyola. He oversaw the publication of the Constitutions of his Order, for which he had laboured greatly.
Besozzi is the author of several spiritual works, including: *Disertatio intorno alla vita di s. Paolo Apostolo confermati ecc.* (Milan 1573; revised and corrected edition with the addition of new discourses, Brescia 1576); *Discorsi intorno alla vita della beata M. Maddalena e le sue meravigliose virtù et gratie* (Venice 1575); *Lettere spirituali sopra alcune feste et sacri templi dell'anno* (dedicated to St Charles, Milan 1578).