Ruggieri

Ruggieri is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• Gaetano Ruggieri, fireworks producer and designer, famous for his involvement in the fireworks in London in 1749 to celebrate the peace Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). It was for this celebration that George Frideric Handel wrote Music for the Royal Fireworks
• Francesco Ruggieri, luthier (maker of violins and related instruments), whose children were notable luthiers as well
• Marina Ruggieri, Italian engineer
• Michele Ruggieri, Jesuit missionary in China, the first European sinologist
• Ève Ruggiéri, French producer on television and radio, born in Limoges on l3th March 1939

The Ruggieri family name is spread all over the last few centuries. In 1210 AD, King Roger the First ruler southern Italy and Sicily and from his rule many people took his name. The first name was always shown last; therefore, the family names were shown in front. For example, Micale Ruggieri. Roger was translated into the singular Ruggiero group of Ruggiero’s became the plural Rogers or Ruggieri.

The first to show up was in the 1400s when Geromino Ruggieri was a member of Christopher Columbus' crew on the Santa Maria. Then, the first Catholic missionary to enter China about 1565 was Micale Ruggieri, a Jesuit, (Marco Polo went to China earlier, but he was a merchant). When the Jesuit Micale returned to Italy, he was assigned to Florence where he taught relatives the art of making firework displays that he learned in China. The Ruggieri's became world renowned for their great ability to construct firework displays that rivaled the Aurora Borealis.

The divine poet Dante showed a Cardinal Ruggieri in Hell having his skull being chewed on by Count Ugolino. (This in Dante's Inferno). There were many others: Sir Roger of Hauteville, Sir Roger de Coverly, and Roger Bacon.