Roman Catholic Cardinal. The only child of Giuseppe Pellegrino, a bricklayer, and his wife Angela Ristorti, who died of typhus only four months after delivering her child, Michele Pellegrino was born in Roata Chiusani and received his priestly formation at the seminary of Fossano. During this period, he rendered military service in Mantova between March 1923 and April 1924. Ordained priest on September 19, 1925 in Centallo by Monsignor Quirico Travaini, he frequented the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan earning a degree in letters with his thesis "La poesia di San Gregorio Nazianzeno", obtaining 110 e lode/110 on July 12, 1929. Earning another degree in theology from the Facoltà Teologica di Torino in 1931 and another in philosophy in 1933 once more from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan, obtaining again 110/110, Pellegrino served as spiritual director of the diocesan seminary of Fossano between 1929 and 1933. Director of the weekly diocesan review "La Fedeltà" published by the diocese of Fossano, he was named canon of the local cathedral chapter, vicar general and later vicar capitular of the diocese. Faculty member of the University of Turin between 1943 and 1965, lecturing Greek and Latin grammar, he was appointed Domestic Prelate of His Holiness on July 21, 1965. Elected archbishop of the metropolitan see of Turin by Pope Paul VI on September 18, 1965, he received his episcopal consecration on the following October 17. The same Pontiff created him cardinal priest in the consistory on June 26, 1967 with the title of Ss.mo Nome di Gesù. Championing the cause of Italy's industrial workers and urging the Pope to permit priests to marry, Pellegrino was a major figure in the post-Second Vatican Council era earning a reputation as a "new kind of bishop" for his strong stance in favor of theological freedom in the church. Retiring from the pastoral government of his see at the age of 73 due to health reasons on July 25, 1977, following his retirement, at the request of his successor, Cardinal Anastasio Alberto Ballestrero OCD., he continued to reside in Turin, living in the parish house of Vallo Torinese. Suffering from an ictus on January 8, 1982 which left him immobilized for the rest of his life, Cardinal Pellegrino died on October 10, 1986 at the at Reparto San Pietro of the Cottolengo Hospital in Turin, shortly after receiving the last rites from Cardinal Ballestrero and a special blessing sent to him by Pope John Paul II. According to his wishes, his corneas were donated following his death and his remains were laid to rest in the simple family vault at the cemetery of Roata Chiusani next to his parents.