Silpa Bhirasri

Born in Florence, Tuscany, he studied at the Royal Art Academy of Florence and taught there from 1914 to 1923. 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. In 1943, he founded what later became Silpakorn University, the University of Fine Arts. 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. He wrote numerous textbooks on art, including Theory of Colour (1943), Theory of Composition (1944), and An Aid to Arts and English-Siamese Glossary (1942–1944).

In 1918, Bhirasri (then still Feroci) married Paola Angelini. However, in 1921, he began living with Fanny Viviani, with whom he later had two children – Isabella and Romano. In 1949, after his fourth trip to Italy, he separated from Viviani, who stayed in Florence, and started living with Malini Kenny, who was 37 years younger than him. In 1959, he married Malini Hitasak in a civil ceremony and lived with her until his death.

Silpa Bhirasri died in Bangkok on 14 May 1962 from a heart attack following surgery at Siriraj Hospital. He is buried in the Cimitero Evangelico degli Allori in the southern suburb of Florence, Galluzzo (Italy).

Democracy Monument at Phra Nakhon district, Bangkok 1939. Victory Monument at Ratchathewi district, Bangkok 1942. Prathom Rajanusorn King Rama I statue at Phra Phutta Yodfa Bridge, Bangkok 1929. Monument Thao Suranari in Nakhon Ratchasima 1934. Royal Memorial King Rama VI at Lumphini Park, Bangkok 1942. Don Chedi Monument, Don Chedi, Suphanburi Province 1959. Sitthidet Saenghiran, Pakorn Lekson and Sanan Silakorn assisted in creation of the 1+1⁄2 life size statue. The Royal Monument of King Taksin Wongwian Yai, Bangkok 1950. Phutthamonthon, Nakhon Pathom (west of Bangkok), 1976, considered to be the tallest free-standing Buddha statue in the world.