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** (), was an Italian politician and statesman who was an important person in the movement toward Italian unification.

Cavour was born in Turin during the Napoleonic rule. Until 1831, he was a military officer. Later, he decided to travel around Europe to learn more about the effects of the Industrial Revolution. Those trips helped him know and understand the principles of the British liberal system.

After four years, Cavour returned to Piedmont. He took charge of agriculture and the economy in general and worked for spreading schools. During that time, his business and banking activities made him one of the richest men in Piedmont.

From 1832 to 1848, Cavour was the mayor of Grinzane (now called _Grinzane Cavour_ to honour him). 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.

In 1850, Cavour became famous because he advocated the Siccardi Law, which diminished the privileges of the Catholic clergy. That 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.

Cavour's political program wanted to make the Kingdom of Sardinia a constitutional monarchy 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. However, his liberal program was criticized by both the Historical Left, which cared for the poorest citizens, and by the Historical Right, which considered him as a destroyer of conservative traditions.

In 1858, he signed a treaty of alliance between the Kingdom of Sardinia and the French Empire against the Austrian Empire.  The next year, during the Second Italian War of Independence, Sardinia and France defeated Austria, which had controlled the north of Italy.

After the Armistice of Villafranca and Giuseppe Garibaldi's expedition to the Kingdom of the Two Scilies, in the south (1860-1861), the unification of Italy was complete.  Cavour became the newly-united Italy's first Prime Minister.  He was also the first Minister of Foreign Affairs.  He was the leader of the Liberal parliamentary group.  He died of an illness in Turin.

## References

- Beales, Derek & Eugenio Biagini. _The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy._ Second Edition. London: Longman, 2002.
- Di Scala, Spencer. _Italy: From Revolution to Republic, 1700 to the Present_. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2004.
- Hearder, H. _Cavour_. Bari: Laterza, 2000.
- 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.
- Mack Smith, Denis. _Cavour_. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.
- 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.

## Infobox (prime minister)

- **honorific-prefix**: The Honourable
- **honorific-suffix**: Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation, SOMHA, Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, OSML, Civil Order of Savoy, COS
- **image**: Francesco Hayez 041.jpg
- **caption**: Portrait of Cavour by Francesco Hayez
- **office**: 1st Prime Minister of Italy
- **monarch**: Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II
- **term start**: 23 March 1861
- **term end**: 6 June 1861
- **predecessor**: None
- **successor**: Bettino Ricasoli
- **office1**: 9th Prime Minister of Sardinia
- **monarch1**: Victor Emmanuel II
- **term start1**: 21 January 1860
- **term end1**: 23 March 1861
- **predecessor1**: Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora
- **successor1**: None
- **office2**: Prime Minister of Piedmont
- **monarch2**: Victor Emmanuel II
- **term start2**: 4 November 1852
- **term end2**: 19 July 1859
- **predecessor2**: Massimo D'Azeglio
- **successor2**: Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora
- **office3**: Minister of Finances
- **monarch3**: Victor Emmanuel II
- **primeminister3**: Massimo D'Azeglio
- **term start3**: 19 April 1851
- **term end3**: 11 May 1852
- **predecessor3**: Giovanni Nigra
- **successor3**: Luigi, Count Cibrario, Luigi Cibrario
- **office4**: Minister of Agriculture and Trade
- **monarch4**: Victor Emmanuel II
- **primeminister4**: Massimo D'Azeglio
- **term start4**: 11 October 1850
- **term end4**: 11 May 1852
- **predecessor4**: Pietro De Rossi di Santarosa
- **successor4**: Giuseppe Natoli (1861)
- **office5**: Member of the Sardinian Chamber of Deputies
- **term start5**: 30 June 1848
- **term end5**: 17 March 1861
- **constituency5**: Turin
- **birth name**: Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso
- **birth place**: Turin, First French Empire, French Empire
- **death place**: Turin, Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Kingdom of Italy
- **nationality**: Italians, Italian
- **party**: Historical Right
- **signature**: Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour Signature.svg