Vitaliano Poselli
1838-1918
Italy
"Vitaliano Poselli was born on June 7, 1838 in Castiglione, Sicily. Soon after his gradua­tion, he moved to Rome, where he probably started his studies in architecture. There he was offered his first job in 1867 by a catholic priest, named Don Bosco. It concerned the erection of the church of Santo Stefano in Istanbul. 
Poselli after living for some years in the Otto­man capital, was sent in 1886 to Thessaloniki by the Ottoman government in order to build the "ldadie" school of the city. In 1888 he married Luisa Sanchioni from Perugia and settled in Thessaloniki. He continued colla­borating with the Ottoman authorities and designed the most important public buildings of the city. At the same time, foreign agen­cies and missions as well as wealthy traders and bankers entrusted him with the creation of several communal, commercial and pri­vate buildings. He was honoured for his work by the Sultan Abdul Hamid 11, Vittorio Ema­nuele II and the Catholic church. 
Vitaliano Poselli died in 1918. One of his 8 children and several of his grand-children are still living in Thessaloniki. Their testi­mony was of a great help with my further res­earch."

Source: 
Colonas, Vassilis. "Vitaliano Poselli: An Italian Architecture in Thessaloniki.” In Environmental Design: Journal of the Islamic Environmental Design Research Centre, 162-171. Rome: Carucci Editore, 1990. 
Associated Sites