John Bosco founded the Salesians to educate and support poor and working-class boys in nineteenth-century Italy.
Born in 1815 near Castelnuovo d'Asti, Bosco became a priest in Turin. He was deeply concerned about young people who faced poverty, prison, exploitation, or homelessness during rapid industrialization.
Bosco developed an educational approach called the Preventive System, based on reason, religion, and loving-kindness rather than harsh punishment. In 1859 he founded the Society of Saint Francis de Sales, whose members became known as Salesians.
He also helped establish the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians with Saint Mary Domenica Mazzarello. Bosco died in 1888 and was canonized in 1934. He is often called Don Bosco, and his feast day is celebrated on 31 January.