Giuseppe PACELLI. – Priest, born in Manduria (Taranto) on 31 Dec. 1763 to Pietro and Francesca Paola Viglietta, from a branch of the P. or De Pacelli family, died in Lecce on 2 Dec. 1811.
In 1787 he was ordained priest, specialising in geography and teaching for many years in various colleges and seminaries while devoting himself at the same time to historical and geographical studies. In 1795 he published his first work: *Elementi di geografia per uso del Seminario di Otranto* (2 vols., N. poli), which earned him the appointment as a member of the Accademia dei Sinceri dell’Arcadia in Naples, under the Arcadian name of Nicomero Euripio. He subsequently composed: *L’Alcante salentino*, in 2 vols., of high value but still unpublished, along with other works of great interest for the historical and geographical knowledge of the Salentine region. As a historian, P. is a scholar of local history who, while adhering to the traditionalist approach, was able to add elements of sound criticism.