Ferrante de Gemmis was born in Terlizzi, near Bari.
His parents were the Baron Tommaso de Gemmis and Francesca Bruni.
De Gemmis was a friend of the philosopher and political economist Antonio Genovesi.
He founded an Academy in Terlizzi becoming the primary exponent of Illuminism in the region of Apulia.
He refused to become a judge so he could continue writing about philosophy even though he wrote in anonymity for modesty.