Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour
Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), better known as Cavour (Italian: [kaˈvur]), was an Italian politician and statesman. He was an important person in the movement toward the Italian unification.
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Cavour by Francesco Hayez | |
| 1st Prime Minister of Italy | |
| In office 23 March 1861 – 6 June 1861 | |
| Monarch | Victor Emmanuel II |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Bettino Ricasoli |
| 9th Prime Minister of Sardinia | |
| In office 21 January 1860 – 23 March 1861 | |
| Monarch | Victor Emmanuel II |
| Preceded by | Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Prime Minister of Piedmont | |
| In office 4 November 1852 – 19 July 1859 | |
| Monarch | Victor Emmanuel II |
| Preceded by | Massimo D'Azeglio |
| Succeeded by | Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora |
| Minister of Finances | |
| In office 19 April 1851 – 11 May 1852 | |
| Monarch | Victor Emmanuel II |
| Prime Minister | Massimo D'Azeglio |
| Preceded by | Giovanni Nigra |
| Succeeded by | Luigi Cibrario |
| Minister of Agriculture and Trade | |
| In office 11 October 1850 – 11 May 1852 | |
| Monarch | Victor Emmanuel II |
| Prime Minister | Massimo D'Azeglio |
| Preceded by | Pietro De Rossi di Santarosa |
| Succeeded by | Giuseppe Natoli (1861) |
| Member of the Sardinian Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 30 June 1848 – 17 March 1861 | |
| Constituency | Turin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso 10 August 1810 Turin, French Empire |
| Died | 6 June 1861 (aged 50) Turin, Kingdom of Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Political party | Historical Right |
| Signature |  |
| [1][2][3] | |
Cavour was born in Turin during Napoleonic rule. Until 1831, he was a military officer.[4] Later, he decided to travel in Europe to learn more about the effects of the Industrial Revolution. The trips helped him to know and understand the principles of the British Liberal system.
After four years, he returned to Piedmont. He took charge of agriculture and the economy in general. He worked for the spread of schools. During that time, his business and banking activities made him one of the richest men in the Piedmont.[5]
From 1832 to 1848, Cavour was the mayor of Grinzane (now called Grinzane Cavour to honor him).[6] In 1847, he founded the newspaper Il Risorgimento. According to him, the process of economic and social development, which he had promoted for years, could be implemented only after a deep restructuring of political institutions.[5]
In 1850, Cavour became famous because he advocated the "Siccardi Law" that diminished the privileges of the Catholic clergy. In the same year, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Massimo D'Azeglio, chose him as Minister of Agriculture, Trade and Navy. Later he also became Minister of Finance. After D'Azeglio resigned on November 4, 1852, Cavour became Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia.[7]
Cavour's political program wanted to make the Kingdom of Sardinia a constitutional State based on moderate and progressive liberalism and so he dedicated himself to a radical renewal of the economy. He modernised and supported agriculture, strengthened the industrial system and promoted trade with the major European powers.[8] However, his liberal program was criticized by both the "Historical Left", which cared for the poorest citizens, both the "Historical Right", which considered him as a destroyer of conservative traditions.[5]
In 1858, he signed a treaty of alliance between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the French Empire against the Austrian Empire. The next year, the Second Italian War of Independence, the Piedmontese and the French defeated the Austrians, who then controlled Italy.[7]
After the Armistice of Villafranca and Giuseppe Garibaldi's expedition in the South (1860-1861), the unification of Italy was completed. Cavour became the first president of the united Italy. He was also the first Minister of Foreign Affairs.[7] He was the leader of the Liberal parliamentary group. He died of an illness in Turin.[7]
Camillo Benso, Count Of Cavour Media
Coat of arms of the Count of Cavour: "Argent on a chief gules three scallop shells or."
An early portrait of Cavour
Official portrait of Cavour in 1852
Cavour's desk in the Château de Thorens, Savoy
Ten pesos banknote, printed in Uruguay in 1887, with the image of Cavour and Garibaldi
Scritti di economia, 1962
References
- Beales, Derek & Eugenio Biagini. The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy. Second Edition. London: Longman, 2002. ISBN 0-582-36958-4
- Di Scala, Spencer. Italy: From Revolution to Republic, 1700 to the Present. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8133-4176-0
- Hearder, H. Cavour. Bari: Laterza, 2000. ISBN 88-420-5803-3
- Holt, Edgar. The Making of Italy: 1815–1870. New York: Murray Printing Company, 1971. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 76-135573
- Kertzer, David. Prisoner of the Vatican. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. ISBN 0-618-22442-4
- Mack Smith, Denis. Cavour. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985. ISBN 0416421806
- Mack Smith, Denis. Italy: A Modern History. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1959. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 5962503
- Norwich, John Julius. The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean. New York: Doubleday, 2006. ISBN 978-0-385-51023-3
Note
- ↑ Alexis de Tocqueville (2008). Un ateo liberale. Religione, politica, società. Dedalo. p. 78. ISBN 9788822055101.
- ↑ Lorena Forni (2010). La laicità nel pensiero dei giuristi italiani: tra tradizione e innovazione. Giuffrè. p. 79. ISBN 9788814153648.
- ↑ Giorgio Dell'Arti (2008). Cavour: Vita dell'uomo che fece l'Italia. Marsilio. ISBN 9788831732789.
- ↑ Beales and Biagini, The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy, p. 107.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Breve biografia di Camillo Cavour
- ↑ Hearder, Cavour, Bari, 2000, p. 26.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 CAVOUR, Camillo Benso conte di, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
- ↑ Mack Smith, Cavour, pp. 68-74