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. He was an important person in the movement toward the Italian unification.
Cavour was born in Turin during Napoleonic rule. Until 1831, he was a military officer. 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.
From 1832 to 1848, Cavour was the mayor of Grinzane (now called Grinzane Cavour to honor 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" 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.
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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
Note
1810 births
1861 deaths
Prime Ministers of Italy
People from Turin
Italian mayors