Silpa Bhirasri (Thai: ศิลป์ พีระศรี; RTGS: Sin Phirasi; Thai pronunciation:[sǐnpʰīː.rá.sǐː]), born Corrado Feroci (15 September 1892 – 14 May 1962), was an Italian-born Thaisculptor. He is considered the father of modern art in Thailand and was instrumental in the founding of today's Silpakorn University.
Born in Florence, Tuscany, he studied at the Royal Art Academy of Florence and taught there from 1914 to 1923.[1] Feroci was invited to Thailand in 1923 to teach Western sculpture at the Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Palace Affairs. He was appointed as a sculptor in 1924 on a three-year contract for 800 baht per month.[1]
When Italy surrendered to the Allies during World War II, Feroci changed his name and became a Thai national in 1944 to avoid arrest by the occupying Japanese army. Previously estranged from his wife in Italy, in his later years he married one of his Thai students.
Feroci / Silpa was the designer and sculptor of many of Bangkok's best known monuments, including Democracy Monument, Victory Monument, and the statue of King Rama I at Memorial Bridge. A Thai commemorative stamp was issued in 1992 on the centenary of his birth. His birthday, 15 September, is observed each year in Thailand as Silpa Bhirasri Day.
Oscar Nalesini, L'Asia Sud-orientale nella cultura italiana. Bibliografia analitica ragionata, 1475-2005. Roma, Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente, 2009 (Bhirasri's articles and books on art at pp. 292–316) ISBN978-88-6323-284-4.
