Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni was an Italian noble and military. He was Count of Castiglione Lodigiano, Grande di Spagna, Duke of San Gabrio, feudatory of Romagnano, Marquis of Incisa, Consignor of Castelnuovo Belbo, feudatory of Gorgonzola, of Camporicco and of Cassina de 'Pecchi.
Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni was the son of Duca Gabrio Serbelloni and Duchess Maria Vittoria Ottoboni. In the early years he was the precursor of the famous Milanese poet Giuseppe Parini.
At the death of his father, he obtained the title of Duke and embarked on a military and administrative career in the city of Milan, following a tradition now widespread in his family for many generations: he became in fact Fieldmaster of the Militia (city police).
In 1775 he was appointed General Superintendent of the same armed body and in the same year he was involved in the scandalous case of Carlo Sala's arrest. The latter, forced to become a friar and then fled to Switzerland, had returned to Lombardy to give himself to the theft in churches and monasteries. Braccato was arrested in 1775 and sentenced to death, not without an attempt at redemption, which was carried out by Gian Galeazzo Serbelloni himself, who offered him the sum of 100,000 lira in his own pocket to compensate for the damage he caused if he had repented , but he refused and was beheaded.
From a practical point of view, in the Urban Militia Gian Galeazzo committed to the creation of a new uniform destined for this body, with a green and white color that then pushed the popular tradition to fondle the members of this body with the term "remolazitt" (remolacci, rapette).
Gian Galeazzo remained in charge for another twenty years as General Superintendent of the militia, distinguishing himself for seriousness of work and good behavior. In April 1796, however, he found himself facing a unique enemy of his kind, the young general Napoleon Bonaparte. He then obtained command of the city forces with the task of defending the Sforza Castle and the royal palace.
Gian Galeazzo, however, was sided in favor of the revolutionaries because he thought that they would give back independence in Milan and that was why he was happy to welcome Napoleon in his palace when he finally entered the Lombard capital. He was then ambassador of the Milanese community in France and in Paris he pleaded the cause of the mitigation of the tax of 20,000,000 francs imposed in Milan by Napoleon as a war indemnity. The legation had no effect, but Serbelloni emerged fortified by this experiment and was allowed to escort Napoleon's wife to Milan to visit Milan.
In the meantime he became president of the municipality (mayor) of Milan, became president of the Executive Directory of the Cisalpine Republic at the time of its establishment in July 1797. Appointed ambassador of the new Lombard republic in France, in Paris he learned of the Austrian invasion of Lombardy. Returning to Lombardy with Napoleon, here he is concerned with drafting a new constitution for the then Italian Republic to the Comizi di Lione, being appointed a member of the French Council.
Just back from Lyon, March 7, 1802 in Milan Gian Galeazzo dies and is buried in the chapel of Gorgonzola, imposing by testament the erection of a hospital and a church on site. At his death the Serbelloni ducal title passed to his second-born brother Alessandro, who gave life to the Serbelloni Sfondrati Della Riviera family (the surname Sfondrati was added by virtue of a hereditary donation of a friend) and then to the descendants of another brother, the Count Marco, Napoleonic prefect. The latter will be called Crivelli Serbelloni and will be extinct in 1918. The current owners of Palazzo Serbelloni and the villa on Lake Como of the mother of Giangaleazzo are the descendants of Giovanni Galeazzo's only daughter, Luigia Busca Arconati, the Gola and Lalatta families. . Other branches have added to the surname Cetti that of Serbelloni.