Giuseppe Parisi

He was born to Domenico Parisi, a lawyer and small landowner in Moliterno in Basilicata. He was educated in mathematics, sciences and philosophy as a young man. He enrolled in the military and rose rapidly in ranks. He was sent to study the military of Austria and German forces, and returned after three years with an appointment of colonel, and in charge of the artillery and ordinance at the military academy. In 1786, he defined plans for a new military academy. It moved in 17887 to the former Jesuit seminary at Pizzofalcone. He began that year to publish his multivolume opus titled Elementi di architettura militare.

By 1798 he was named field marshal of the army and quarter-master general under the Austrian General Mack. He did not think the royal forces would be able to resist the French revolutionary army. With the new republican regime, he was assigned to roles a counselor of state. With the restoration of Ferdinand I as King of the Two Sicilies, Parisi lost his positions. He was briefly recruited by the King in 1820, but soon replaced by General Fardella.^[1]