(birthplace of
Cesare Beccaria) Frisi was born in
Melegnano in 1728; his sibling
Antonio Francesco, born in 1735, went on to be a historian. Frisi was educated at the local
Barnabite monastery and afterwards in that of
Padua. When twenty-one years of age he composed a treatise on the figure of the earth, and the reputation which he soon acquired led to his appointment by the
King of Sardinia to the professorship of philosophy in the College of
Casale. He succeeded
Hyacinthe Sigismond Gerdil, who had been appointed professor of philosophy at the
University of Turin. His friendship with
Radicati, a man of liberal opinions, occasioned Frisi's removal by his clerical superiors to Novara, where he was compelled to do duty as a preacher. he became an associate of the
St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and a foreign member of the
Royal Society of London, and in 1758 a member of the Academy of Berlin, in 1766 of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and in 1770 of the Academies of Copenhagen and of Bern. From several European crowned heads he received, at various times, marks of special distinction, and the empress
Maria Theresa granted him a yearly pension of 100
sequins. In 1764 he was created professor of mathematics in the palatine schools at Milan, and obtained from Pope
Pius VI the release from ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and authority to become a
secular priest. In the same year he began contributing the
literary magazine Il Caffè, founded by his friend Pietro Verri. In 1766 he visited France and England, and in 1768 Vienna. His knowledge of
hydraulics caused him to be frequently consulted with respect to the management of canals and other watercourses in various parts of Europe. It was through his means that
lightning conductors were first introduced into Italy for the protection of buildings. He died in Milan on 22 November 1784 and was buried in the Church of
Sant'Alessandro in Zebedia. Several colleges in Italy are named after him. ==Works==