NEW - The 1870 Rome plebiscite
When the Eternal City defied the Pope to be part of the new Italy
Citizens of Rome voted overwhelmingly in favour of becoming part of the new Italy on this day in 1870, less than two weeks after the city had been captured by the Italian army and the unification process was finally complete. For nine years after the Kingdom of Italy was officially declared in 1861, Rome remained under the control of the Pope as the sovereign territory of the Church, even though much of the area that had been the Papal States had been captured by the unification forces by 1860. The city’s independence had been protected by a French garrison stationed there permanently by Emperor Napoleon III, but the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 meant that the French soldiers had to be withdrawn. In their absence, after attempts to persuade Pope Pius IX to agree a peaceful surrender had failed, Italian troops led by General Raffaele Cadorna breached the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia. Read more…
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Joe Profaci - Mafia boss
Sicilian who influenced profile of Mario Puzo’s Godfather
The Mafia boss Giuseppe ‘Joe’ Profaci, one of the real-life gangsters who influenced the author Mario Puzo as he created the character of his fictional mob boss Vito Corleone in The Godfather, was born in Villabate in Sicily on this day in 1897. It was after studying Profaci’s crime career that Puzo decided that Corleone, who is thought to have been based largely on one of Profaci's fellow mob bosses, Carlo Gambino, should hide his criminal activities behind his ‘legitimate’ identity as an olive oil importer, mirroring what Profaci did in real life in New York. Profaci is believed to have started importing olive oil before he became heavily involved in crime but chose to keep the business going as one of a network of legitimate companies, so that he could mask the proceeds of his crime empire and satisfy the authorities that he was paying his taxes. Read more…
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Antonio Di Pietro – magistrate and politician
Former policeman who led mani pulite corruption investigations
The politician and former magistrate Antonio Di Pietro, who uncovered wide-ranging corruption in the Italian government in a scandal that changed the landscape of Italian politics, was born on this day in 1950 in Molise. Di Pietro was the lead prosecutor in the so-called mani pulite - clean hands - trials in the early 1990s, which led to many politicians and businessmen being indicted and to the collapse of the traditional Socialist and Christian Democratic parties. The Christian Democrats had been the dominant force in Italian politics since the formation of the Italian Republic at the end of the World War Two but after several high-profile arrests, resignations and poor results in the 1992 general election and 1993 local elections the party was disbanded in 1994. The Italian Socialist Party was dissolved in the same year after the resignation of party secretary and former prime minister Bettino Craxi. Read more…
Nino Bixio – soldier and politician
Patriotic general helped to unify Italy
A leading personality during the unification of Italy, Nino Bixio was born Gerolamo Bixio on this day in 1821 in Genoa. Bixio helped to organise Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand in 1860 against the Kingdom of the two Sicilies, and he took part in the capture of Rome in 1870, which completed the unification process. Bixio’s parents had made him join the navy of the Kingdom of Sardinia, with whom he served until returning to Italy in 1846, when he joined Giovine Italia, a political movement founded by Giuseppe Mazzini, who had written to Charles Albert, King of Sardinia, asking him to unite and lead Italy. The following year in Genoa, Bixio is said to have seized the bridle of Charles Albert’s horse and cried out: “Pass the Ticino, Sire, and we are all with you” - a reference to the Ticino river, which his army would have to cross in order to drive out the Austrians in northern Italy. Read more…
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Saint Charles Borromeo
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Great reformer earned appreciation after his death
Charles (Carlo) Borromeo, a leading Catholic figure who led the movement to combat the spread of Protestantism, was born on this day in Milan in 1538. Part of the noble Borromeo family, he became a Cardinal and brought in many reforms to benefit the Church, which made him unpopular at the time. But he was held in high regard after his death and was quickly made a saint by Pope Paul V. Borromeo was born at the Castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, near Milan. His father was Count of Arona and his mother was part of the Medici family. When his uncle, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Medici became Pope Pius IV in 1559, Borromeo was brought to Rome and given a post in the Vatican. The following year the Pope made him a Cardinal and asked him to organise the last session of the Council of Trent, which was being held in Trento to reform the Church and counter the spread of Protestantism. Read more…
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Book of the Day: The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, its Regions and their Peoples, by David Gilmour
David Gilmour is one of Britain's most admired and accomplished historical writers and biographers. His previous books include The Last Leopard: A Life of Giuseppe di Lampedusa (winner of the Marsh Biography Award); Curzon (Duff Cooper Prize); and Long Recessional: The Imperial Life of Rudyard Kipling (Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography).
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