FIRRAO, GIUSEPPE. - Cardinal, b. in Napoli on 20 July 1736, d. there on 24 Jan. 1830. Namesake and relative of the Firrao (1669-1744) who played so great a part in Vatican diplomacy in the eighteenth century, he entered the prelature under Clement XIII, who sent him as vice-legate to Ravenna, subsequently entrusting him with the government of other cities of the Papal States.
Pio VI raised him to the titular archbishopric of Petra on 25 Feb. 1782, accrediting him as nuncio to the Republic of Venezia, and later appointing him secretary of the S. Congregazione dei vescovi e dei Regolari. Pio VII enrolled him in the S. Collegio on 23 Feb. 1801, assigning him the priestly title of S. Eusebio, which F. retained throughout the twenty-nine years of his cardinalate, without transferring to that of S. Lorenzo in Lucina even when he became the senior member of his Order.
In frail health, he preferred to withdraw to Napoli, devoted to a life of study and prayer, partly disappointing the hopes raised by his brilliant early career. He carefully kept aloof from the politics of his time, coming to Roma almost solely to take part in the Conclaves of Leone XII and Pio VIII.