Frédéric Ozanam (1813-1853) was born in Milan. He was an academic. After his graduation in Law and Arts, he became professor at the Sorbonne at the age of twenty-seven years old. He was a scholar in “La Crusca” Academy in Florence and did most of his literary research in Italy. He devoted himself to spread knowledge disclosing its harmony with the Christian faith, promoting conferences on religion and culture , convinced that the intellectual charity, united with the charity for the poor, would have contributed to the renewal of the society. He was founder of an organisation later known as the "Society of Saint Vincent de Paul" whose charitable activities spread quickly in France and in other countries. He was proclaimed Blessed by Pope John Paul II on August 22, 1997 in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. Ozanam was an example of lay holiness and of an intellectual engaged in the study of the reasons of faith.