The Venerable Father Germanus Ruoppolo, C.P., was a Passionist priest and author of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Born in 1850 at Naples, he was noted for his service as St. Gemma Galgani's spiritual director, a practice which he began in 1900. He was also a highly-esteemed theologian, practicing great piety, and authored many works on such subjects as philosophy, theology and mathematics. After St. Galgani's death, he took it upon himself to compose The Life of St. Gemma Galgani, which was published in 1914 with the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur. Father Germanus died on the eleventh of December, 1909.