Cavour, Camillo Benso, Conte di 1810-61
Italian statesman

Abandoning his early military career, he spent most of the 1830s and 1840s concentrating on the scientific farming of his estates or travelling. His visits to England left him an admirer of the British liberal institutions, railways, industry and banking. In 1847 he founded a progressive journal, Il Risorgimento, but played no part in the events of 1848. He entered politics in 1849, and held various ministerial posts under Massimo D'Azeglio before replacing him as Prime Minister (1852); he was to remain premier until his death, except for a few months in 1859. Cavour's early policy was based on the economic development and modernization of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, fostering commerce, ending restrictions on banking and improving communications. From 1855, however, he concentrated increasingly on foreign affairs, perhaps achieving his greatest success with the Plombi�res Agreement which laid the basis for the Piedmontese acquisition of Lombardy. In 1860 the Expedition of the Thousand to Sicily and Garibaldi's subsequent victories in the Mezzogiorno made Cavour fear that the former Mazzinian might establish a republican government in the south or attempt to capture Rome, which would jeopardize good relations with France. He consequently tried to place the south under more moderate leadership. Having failed to achieve this, he sent Piedmontese troops through the Papal States (annexing Umbria and the Marche en route) to block Garibaldi's northward advance. Much to his relief, Garibaldi happily surrendered his conquests to Victor Emmanuel II. In the last months of his life, Cavour made an abortive attempt to secure Rome through purchase and diplomacy.

Bibliography: Frank J Coppa, Camillo di Cavour (1973)