Giorgio La Pira was originally Sicilian, he moved to Florence to study law and in 1933 became professor of Roman law at the University of Florence. In 1927 he had already joined the secular branch of the Order of Preachers. He combined a simple and pious life in the San Marco room with an impressive zeal for charity. With the help of others, he founded in 1933 a poor table that still exists today, accompanied the publication of a Dominican periodical and in 1943 founded a student group to which he attracted many people who played an important role in post-war Italy. Having witnessed the disasters of the war, he began a political career in 1946 and was elected to the Italian Parliament as a member of the Democratia Christiana. He participated in the writing of the new Italian constitution. In addition to his mandate in the Italian government, he was mayor of Florence for ten years. He used his position for peace and tried to overcome barriers during the Cold War, organizing meetings of mayors and visiting cities behind the Iron Curtain and along the Mediterranean. He was involved in breaking a deal between the warring factions in Vietnam.

Bibliography: Alessandro Cortesi OP, Marco Pietro Giovannoni & Pietro Domenico Giovannoni La Pira: Vangelo e impegno politico, Firenze 2021. (Also available in German: Giorgio La Pira, Evangelium und politisches Engagement, 'Dominikanische im. 2022)