Gennaro Serra, Duke of Cassano

Gennaro Serra, Prince of Cassano (September 30, 1772[1] – August 20, 1799) was an Italian revolutionary and soldier, who fought for the brief Parthenopean Republic in Naples.

His mother was Giulia Carafa and his father was the Duke Luigi Francesco Serra of Cassano (Calabria).

[4] When the directory commissioned Serra to establish a cavalry unit to help defend the city, the pamphletist Eleonora Pimentel criticized the goal as elitist: "Only young men of fortune conveniently have horses, who exercised them at the races, at games, and in horse riding: (we should) also invite young people from less fortunate who can not have them to join the cavalry".

[8] Like many young persons caught up in the counter-revolutionary purges, such as Luisa Sanfelice and Ettore Carafa, his courage and idealism reverberated with future aspiring patriots.

It is said that at the Palazzo Serra di Cassano in Naples, the door facing towards the Royal Palace was walled off by Gennaro's mother in protest of the execution of her son.