Background
Vito Fazzi was born in Melpignano (Lecce) on 23 December 1851.
Vito Fazzi was born in Melpignano (Lecce) on 23 December 1851.
His work was fundamental for the construction of the first big modern civil hospital in Lecce. Life and personality
According to a philological analysis, his name means “Faber Vitae”, that is “life maker”. This quality emerges in the speeches and epitaphs pronounced during his funeral.
He was a very reflective and modest manitoba
lieutenant is meaningful that in his study he had a portrait of a patient who unfortunately died during a surgical operation made by himself. In such a way he underlined the importance of reminding the mistakes made in the past in order to learn by them.
Political and medical career
Vito Fazzi was not only a very important doctor, but also a great politician. He became city councillor with responsibility for public hygiene and he intensified the fight against malaria reclaiming wetlands.
He was also elected President of Lecce province.
In 1887 he began the construction of a psychiatric hospital, which was opened in 1901. He entered the Parliament in 1903 and promoted politics of growth and development for his land. He died at the age of 66, on 12 January 1918.
After his death, in 1922, Lecce medical council decided to call the new hospital “ Vito Fazzi” in memory of this great doctor who changed the sanitary story of his city.
A memorial of Vito Fazzi, a sculpture made by a famous artist, Guacci, was located and it is still today in the main hall of the hospital.
