The Rossetti family, likely originating from Guardiagrele in the 17th century, initially settled in the San Pietro district. It was here that the first records of their presence in the city can be found.
Nicola Rossetti, a blacksmith by trade, lived and worked in a house and workshop located in the square behind the Santa Maria Church, likely owned by the church itself. Despite his profession as an artisan, Nicola ensured that his children received a liberal education focused on study. This was probably supported by his wife, Maria Francesca Pietrocola, from the same family that would later give birth to the greatest architect of Vasto, Nicola Maria, who was active throughout the first half of the 19th century.
Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe Rossetti was born on February 28, 1783, the youngest of seven children (four brothers and three sisters). He was named after a brother who died at a young age on the same day he was born.
His older brother Andrea, born in 1765, became a priest and was Gabriele’s first tutor. Later, Gabriele studied under Father Vincenzo Gaetani at the Collegio del Carmine, which gave him the opportunity to interact with the most prominent families in Vasto, including the Muzii, Barbarotta, Tiberi, and especially the Majo family.
The high level of education in the family is evident not only through the ecclesiastical career of the eldest brother Andrea but also through the career of Domenico, born in 1772, who would become a lawyer in the Parma court and live between the Duchy of Parma and France.
A special role in the Rossetti family was held by poetry. All the family members enjoyed composing verses and, particularly, improvising them.
There are poems preserved from all the Rossetti brothers, including the third son, Domenico, whose talent in dialectal poetry is commemorated in an inscription at the local cemetery.
It is likely that during these early years, Gabriele Rossetti was already exposed to the liberal spirit that would later lead him to join the Carbonari circles once he arrived in Naples. One of his cousins was Floriano Pietrocola, who, after being appointed a representative of the municipality during the brief period of the Vastese Republic in 1799, was executed by the Bourbon Sanfedisti, along with many other prominent citizens.
In his youth, Rossetti was also friends with Quirino Majo, the son of Count Venceslao, the general administrator of the lands of the Marquises d’Avalos. It was with a recommendation from Majo to Marquis Tommaso d’Avalos that, in the autumn of 1804, the 21-year-old Gabriele left his hometown to go to Naples and further his studies at the local university.
