The House of Fisichella, originally from the
Val di Catania, has long been prominent in the fields of
diplomacy,
jurisprudence,
philosophy and
theology. Among the family's forefathers, at the beginning of the 17th century Domenico Fisichella was chaplain at the
monasterium album of Campanarazzu,
Misterbianco, and later at the local St. Nicholas Church, while Francesco Fisichella was ambassador of the
city of Catania to the
royal court of
Madrid since 1671. In the 18th century, two renowned members of the family were both named Giuseppe Fisichella: the elder was referred to as
signore don around 1718, whereas the younger, namely Giuseppe Maria Fisichella, served as
justice of the Supreme Court of the
Kingdom of Sicily in the years 1770, 1771, 1772 and 1782. Among his nephews, in the 19th century a namesake was
giudice circondariale – that is commissioner and judge – of
Centorbi and
Mascali, in 1826 and 1830, respectively, while Ignazio Fisichella was Deputy Secretary of the
General Prosecution Office of the
Kingdom of Italy at the
Catania Appeal Court, and later
Clerk to the civil and
criminal court of
Nicosia. Meanwhile, three members of the family have been prominent in other fields, such as
Francesco Fisichella (1841–1908), priest, philosopher and
jurist,
Domenico Fisichella (born 1935), academic and influential politician, minister and later
senator of the Italian Republic, and
Salvatore Fisichella (born 1943), renowned operatic
tenor. In the 20th century, two
cadet branches branched off from the main line, whose
family seat is located in
Militello in Val di Catania, moving to
Lombardy and
Lazio, respectively; the first is represented by
Rino Fisichella (born 1951), academic, theologian and
archbishop of the
Roman Catholic Church, while the second by
Giancarlo Fisichella (born 1973), famous athlete. == Onomastics ==