FIGLIE DI GESÙ (Verona). – A women’s religious institute founded in Verona for the instruction and education of young women by the priest Pietro Leonardi (1769–1844), a man of great charitable activity and tireless zeal for souls. Approved by the Holy See, the Institute is widespread in northern Italy, with 35 houses and 237 sisters.
BIBL.: C. Bresciani, Vita di d. Pietro Leonardi, Verona 1855; anon., D. Pietro Leonardi, cenni biografici, there 1912.