Urbano Rattazzi

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Urbano Rattazzi

In office
March 3 – December 8, 1862
Preceded by Bettino Ricasoli
Succeeded by Luigi Carlo Farini
Federico Luigi, Conte Menabrea

Born June 20, 1808
Alessandria
Died June 5, 1873
Frosinone
Political party Democrat (Historical Left)

Urbano Rattazzi (June 20, 1808June 5, 1873) was an Italian statesman.

[edit] Biography

Born in Alessandria (Piedmont), in 1808 Rattazzi was sent to the chamber of deputies in Turin as representative of his native town. By his debating powers he contributed to the defeat of the Balbo ministry, and for a short time held the portfolio of public instruction; afterwards, in the Gioberti cabinet, he became minister of the interior, and on the retirement of the last-named in 1849 he became practically the head of the government. The defeat at Novara compelled the resignation of Rattazzi in March 1849.

His election as president of the chamber in 1852 was one of the earliest results of the so-called connubio with Cavour, i. e. the union of the moderate men of the Right and of the Left; and having become minister of justice in 1853 he carried a number of measures of reform, including that for the suppression of certain of the monastic orders. During a momentary reaction of public opinion he resigned office in 1858, but again entered the cabinet under La Marmora in 1859 as minister of the interior.

Rattazzi in a contemporary caricature.
Enlarge
Rattazzi in a contemporary caricature.

In consequence of the negotiations for the cession of Nice and Savoy he again retired in January 1860. He was entrusted with the formation of a new ministry in March 1862, but in consequence of his policy of repression towards Garibaldi at Aspromonte he was driven from office in the following December. He was again prime minister in 1867, from April to October. He died at Frosinone on the 5th of June 1873.

His wife, whom he married in 1863, was a remarkable woman. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Wyse, British plenipotentiary at Athens, and Laetitia Bonaparte, niece of Napoleon I Born in Ireland in 1833, she was educated in Paris, and in 1848 married a rich Alsatian named Solms; but the prince-president refused to recognize her, and in 1852 she was expelled from Paris. Her husband died soon after; and calling herself the Princesse Marie de Solms, she spent her time in various fashionable places and dabbled in literature, Eugène Sue and François Ponsard being prominent in her court of admirers. She published Les Chants de l'exile (1859) and some novels. After Rattazzi's death, she married (1877) a Spaniard named Rute; she died in February 1902.

[edit] Sources

  • Rattazzi, Laetitia (1881). Rattazzi et son temps.
  • King, Bolton (1899). History of Italian Unity.
Preceded by:
Pier Dionigi Pinelli
President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
1852-1853
Succeeded by:
Carlo Boncompagni
Preceded by:
Carlo Bon Compagni
President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
1859-1860
Succeeded by:
Giovanni Lanza
Preceded by:
Giovanni Lanza
President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
1861-1862
Succeeded by:
Sebastiano Tecchio
Preceded by:
Bettino Ricasoli
Prime Minister of Italy
1862
Succeeded by:
Luigi Carlo Farini
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1862
Succeeded by:
Giuseppe Pasolini
Italian Minister of the Interior
1862
Succeeded by:
Ubaldino Peruzzi
Preceded by:
Bettino Ricasoli
Prime Minister of Italy
1867
Succeeded by:
Federico Luigi, Conte Menabrea
Italian Minister of the Interior
1867
Succeeded by:
Filippo Antonio Gualterio

[edit] References

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