FAA DI BRUNO, FRANCESCO. - Priest, born ALESSANDRO on 29 March 1825 into the noted family, died in Turin on 27 March 1888. Captain and combatant at Novara, he studied mathematics in Paris in order to become tutor to the royal princes; when this prospect vanished or after refusing a duel, he resigned from the army and, having graduated with a scholarship, entered the University of Turin in 1857, failing to become a full professor due to masonic intrigues.
Still a layman, he wrote or edited ascetical publications (notable among them *Il Mannaio del soldato cristiano*, Turin 1862, 2nd ed. 1866) and devoted himself to charitable works, as he had seen his master Cauchy do, of whom he wrote a biography. In 1859 he founded the *Opera di S. Zita*, which still exists, for domestic workers, pouring all his resources into it and introducing institutions of his own design to meet needs that were still unmet, such as an infirmary and convalescent home, pensions for elderly ladies of good standing and for travelling priests, etc. Among his many other activities, the establishment of a House for young women who had become mothers is noteworthy. Of these works, some of which had neither a long nor a flourishing life, the Conservatory of Our Lady of Suffrage and St Zita remains, as the *Opera di S. Zita* was called from 1875, which houses the Professional School, and the F. di B. Institute for female student teachers; to direct it, Faà di Bruno, still a layman, had founded the Minim Sisters of Our Lady of Suffrage (1869); and to serve the church he had built, especially for the suffrage of the fallen—a then novel idea—he took holy orders in 1876.
His scientific contributions (principal among them *Théorie des formes binaires*, Turin 1876, especially in the German edition, Leipzig 1881) and his numerous inventions were highly esteemed.
The introduction of the cause of beatification is under study at the Congregation of Rites.