FAGNANO, GIUSEPPE. — Born on 9 March 1844 at Rocchetta Tanaro (Alessandria), died at Santiago on 18 August 1916. In 1860 he entered the Oratory of S. Giovanni Bosco in Turin and, ordained a priest in 1868, was sent to the colleges of Lanzo Torinese and Varazze. In 1875 he took part in the first expedition of missionaries whom the Saint sent to the Argentine Republic under the leadership CALÒ, PIETRO (v.), apostle of Patagonia.
He first founded the house at S. Nicolas de los Arrogos, in the province of Buenos Aires; then, in 1880, that of Carmen de Patagones, on the Rio Negro, at the northern border of Patagonia, where the surviving Araucanian Indians, driven into those lands by the recent expedition of the national army, and various families of Tehuelche Indians lived scattered across immense prairies. Don F. erected the first parish church there, opened colleges, founded a meteorological observatory, and devoted himself to the evangelization of the aboriginal peoples. In 1883 the apostolic vicariates of Southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego were erected; Cagliero was placed over the former and F. over the latter. He moved to Punta Arenas, on the Strait of Magellan, to carry out missionary and civilizing work that lasted for more than six decades, assisted also by his confrères and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Through complex and tenacious work, he succeeded in integrating deserted areas of Argentina and Chile into civil life, promoting study and establishing schools and museums. F. is buried in the mother church of Punta Arenas, which he built.
FAENZA, DIOCESI di — Ancient rustic candlesticks and polychrome dish (18th century). Faenza, Ceramics Museum.
Salesiana della Patagonia meridionale e Terra del Fuoco, 2 vols., Turin 1921; id., Mons. G. F., there 1920; R. A. Entrigas, Mons. F.; el hombre, el minionero, el pionero; Buenos Aires 1945. Luigi Castano