Blessed Giovannina Franchi

Giovannina Franchi (24 June 1807 – 23 February 1872) was an Italian Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Suore Infermiere dell'Addolorata. Franchi was engaged for a brief period of time and the death of her fiancé prompted her to review her life and what her religious convictions were telling her to do; she had been involved in countless charitable works in the past and so dedicated herself to the care of the ill. Her order became tasked with aiding the ill across Como and the smallpox epidemic in 1871 thrust them into action later claimed Franchi's life. Franchi's beatification was celebrated on 20 September 2014. Giovannina Franchi was born on 24 June 1807 in Como as the second of seven children to the magistrate Giovanni Franchi and Giuseppina Maza; she was born into one of Como's wealthiest families. Her brothers were Antonio and Pietro and Luigi while her sisters were Carolina and Angela and Giuseppa. Her baptism was celebrated on 25 June 1807. Franchi commenced her education in 1814 at the San Carlo boarding school that the Visitation Sisters ran and she was there until 1824. Franchi received her Confirmation on 11 May 1818 and later completed her studies in 1824. At the age of 18, she devoted herself to teaching catechism and to charitable works. In 1840 she became betrothed but her fiancé (who was an older man) died due to a disease not long after the engagement. In 1842 her childless uncle Carlo Andrea Franchi divided his estate among his nieces and nephews and she received 3000 liras. It was around 1846 that she met for the first time Gian Abbondio Crotti (the Como Cathedral canon) who became her spiritual director and close collaborator. Her mother died in 1849 and her father soon followed in 1852 which came all of a sudden with little warning; her father had bequeathed 32 000 lires to her but was concerned about her unmarried status so had his two sons Antonio and Pietro take care of her.