[2] His father, Egisto, was a Tuscan scholar of Sanskrit and his mother was American,[3] whose uncle was Laurenus Clark Seelye, the first president of Smith College.

After high school graduation in Mount Vernon, New York, in 1912 Rossi received a law degree from the University of Rome.

[2] In the 1930s Rossi served in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome and the consulates of Aleppo, Smirne and Sarajevo.

[4] Rossi married Giacinta Porfilio, sister of Italian American entrepreneur Almerindo Portfolio and had three sons.

[4] Rossi wrote a biography in Italian about his brother in law, titled La Vita di Almerindo Portfolio, (1966).