Quintino Sella - economist, scientist and mountaineer

Statesman who laid financial foundations for unified Italy

Quintino Sella had a major
influence on the unified Italy 

Quintino Sella, a politician and economist widely credited with building the foundations for economic stability in post-unification Italy, was born on this day in 1827 in Mosso, a small town in the province of Biella in northern Piedmont.

Sella served as Minister of Finance under three governments between 1862 and 1872.

The newly unified Italy inherited an enormous budget deficit from the collection of disparate regional states that preceded it, but Sella was instrumental in steering the country toward fiscal stability by enforcing major public spending cuts, securing early land tax payments, and pushing through the controversial "grist tax" - a tax on flour - to balance the national budget. 

He also influenced the shape of the new nation by persuading the king, Victor Emmanuel II, to seize control of Rome in 1870 when the French garrison that was protecting the independence of the city under Pope Pius IX was withdrawn to fight in the Franco-Prussian War.

Piedmontese troops led by General Raffaele Cadorna broke through the city walls near Porta Pia, enabling Victor Emmanuel to take up residence in the Quirinale Palace and declare unification complete.

Away from politics, Sella was a passionate climber. He founded the Italian Alpine Club in Turin in 1863, helping to popularise mountaineering in Italy.

A scientist with a detailed knowledge of mining and minerals, he also  promoted and helped found the Italian Geological Society.

Sella was born in the hamlet of Sella di Valle Superiore in the municipality of Mosso, about 20km (12 miles) from the small city of Biella and just over 90km (54 miles) northeast of the regional capital of Turin.

He was the eighth of 20 children born to Maurizio and Rosa Sella. The Sella family had been active in the wool processing industry since the 17th century.  The family had a strong religious vocation and after Maurizio acquired some land on the bank of the Cervo stream in Biella in 1835, he opened silk and woolen mills which provided employment and a refuge for young women who found themselves in difficult circumstances. 

The Sella family had their own living quarters within the mill.

Quintino’s father earmarked him as a future head of the mechanical sector of the company and steered him towards the study of hydraulic engineering. After obtaining his degree with honours at the University of Turin, he furthered his education at the prestigious École des Mines in Paris.

Sella served as Minister of
Finance in three governments

He remained in the academic world as a distinguished professor of mathematics and mineralogy at the Polytechnic University of Turin, gaining an international reputation in crystallography.

Sella’s political career began with his participation in councils and commissions in the education sector before he was encouraged to stand for election to the Chamber of Deputies for Cossato, near Biella. 

Once elected, he quickly established himself as one of the most prominent figures aligned with the Historical Right. After a spell as secretary general at the Ministry of Education, he was appointed Minister of Finance on three occasions, in the governments of  Urbano Rattazzi (1862), Alfonso La Marmora (1864-65) and Giovanni Lanza (1869-7).

It was under Marmora that he devoted himself to balancing the state budget, implementing the necessary policy of economies and tax increases on consumption and income, sometimes resorting to unpopular measures. 

Easily the most controversial of these was the so-called grist tax - Tassa sul Macinato - introduced in 1868. A tax on milling grain, it applied to wheat, corn, rye, and oats.

However, the tax provoked a huge public backlash. It was labelled a tax on poverty, disproportionately harming the poor.  After violent protests erupted across Italy in 1869, the government deployed the military to crush the uprisings. More 250 protestors were killed, another 1,000 wounded and thousands arrested. 

Saluzzo in Piedmont, with the distinctive shape
of the Monviso peak in the background

The grist tax caused the fall of the La Marmora government but remained in force until it was abolished under the left-wing government of Agostino Depretis in 1883. Sella was ultimately credited with achieving his objective of pulling the newly unified Kingdom of Italy out of near-bankruptcy and putting it on a stable financial path.  

Despite his involvement in politics, Sella always made time for his mountaineering hobby. In 1863, he led the first all-Italian team to reach the summit of Mont Viso, also known as Monviso, the pyramid-shaped highest peak of the Cottian Alps in Piedmont at 3,841m (12,601ft). This feat proved Italian climbers could compete with British alpinists. 

In the same year as his Monviso success, Sella founded the Club Alpino Italiano (Italian Alpine Club) in Turin. It aimed to map the Alps and foster national pride. He used his climbs to study Alpine geology, mineralogy, and glaciers. 

Married with seven children, Quintino Sella died 1884 at the age of 56 in his home inside the wool mill and was buried in the monumental cemetery of Oropa, about 15km (nine miles) from Biella, in a monumental family tomb in the shape of a pyramid. 

Piazza della Cisterna is a beautiful square in
Biella's elevated Biella Piazzo area 

Travel tip:

Biella, the nearest city to Sella’s home, is a well-established municipality of almost 45,000 inhabitants in the foothills of the Biellese Alps, about 85km (53 miles) northeast of Turin and slightly more than 100m (62 miles) west of Milan. The city is divided into two levels: Biella Piano (the lower, bustling plain) and Biella Piazzo (the elevated, medieval heart), the latter accessible by a free funicular railway, giving access to its cobbled streets, terraced panoramic views, and aristocratic palaces such as Palazzo La Marmora and Palazzo Gromo Losa. The lower town is not without attractions, which include a Roman baptistery from the early 1000s - Battistero di San Giovanni Battista - in Piazza Duomo, adjacent to the church and convent of San Sebastian. Wool and textiles have been associated with the town since the 13th century and it was once described as ‘the Manchester of Italy’. Although the best years of the industry have now passed, with many mills and factories closed, brands such as Cerruti 1881, Ermenegildo Zegna, Vitale Barberis Canonico and Fila still have a presence.

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One of the Ricetto di Candelo's
typical cobbled streets

Travel tip:

Cossato, where Quintino Sella stood for the Chamber of Deputies, is a prominent town in the province of Biella, the second-largest town in the province by both land area and population, housing roughly 14,000 residents. Over the centuries, Cossato’s identity became intertwined with Northern Italy's textile boom. The town evolved into a centre for wool and textile processing. While it has modernised over time - evidenced by a major recent architectural renovation of its central town square - it maintains traditional Piedmontese charm, with its town centre extending along major roadways and giving way to numerous historic hamlets scattered across the surrounding hills.  Cossato serves as a gateway to the unique landscapes of the Biellese territory, popular for mountain biking and hiking, characterized by dramatic, heavily-eroded orange-red rock formations. Located just five minutes away, the Ricetto di Candelo is a remarkably preserved 14th-century fortified medieval village, complete with pebbled streets, ancient turrets, and artisan shops. Cossato sits on the Biella-to-Novara railway line, which keeps the town well-connected for commuters and tourists. 

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More reading:

Why the Battle of Bezzecca was a significant victory in the push for unification

The general who founded the Italian army's famous Bersaglieri corps

The 1870 capture of Rome that completed Italian unification

Also on this day:

1573: The death of architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola

1806: The birth of Sicilian revolutionary Michele Amari

1901: The birth of actor and film director Vittorio De Sica

1911: The birth of composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti

1990: Italy beat England to finish third in 1990 World Cup

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Sette e mezzo: The Palermo revolt of 1866

Insurgents took control of city after a major uprising 

Sicily had seen previous uprisings in the 19th century,
such as this depicted in 1860 during the unification campaign

The Sette e mezzo revolt - so named because it lasted seven and a half days - began in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, on this day in 1866.

The uprising - five years after the island became part of the new Kingdom of Italy - brought to the surface the tensions that existed in southern Italy following the Risorgimento movement and unification.

It was put down harshly by the new government of Italy, who laid siege to the city of Palermo, deploying more than 40,000 soldiers under the command of General Raffaele Cadorna.

It is not known exactly how many Sicilians were killed before the revolt was subdued. Several thousand died as a result of a cholera outbreak that swept through Palermo and the surrounding area, but it is thought that more than 1,000 may have been killed as a direct consequence of the siege.

Sicily did not take well to the imposition of a national government, bringing with it plans to modernise the traditional economy and political system. New laws and taxes and the introduction of compulsory military service caused resentment. There was a feeling also that the industrialisation of Italy was too heavily concentrated in the north, with little investment being made in the south.

Government officials installed in new municipal offices were almost exclusively from the north and many seemed to regard Sicilians almost as barbarians.

General Raffaele Cadorna led the troops
who were ordered to crush the revolt

The local ruling elites frequently tried to undermine attempts by the national government to establish a police force and a liberal justice system and from 1861 onwards there were a series of small uprisings, often encouraged by local brigands who feared for the future of their own criminally acquired wealth.

On the morning of September 16, 1866, however, something much bigger and organised took place, with thousands of people from villages around Palermo gathering at the edge of the city, under the command of some of the island’s disenfranchised former political leaders.

Many were armed, some as the result of storming small government army garrisons. More than 4,000 attacked the prefecture and police headquarters, killing the inspector general of the Public Security Guard Corps. 

Similar violence took place in neighbouring towns as word of the Palermo uprising spread, including Monreale, Altofonte and Misilmeri. It is thought that there were possibly as many as 35,000 insurgents in Palermo and its province.

On September 22, seven and a half days after the rioters had begun to mobilise around Palermo, the fighting ceased.  The rioters had control of the city and the organised nature of their campaign became clear when a Revolutionary Committee was formed. The secretary was Francesco Bonafede, a follower of the northern revolutionary, Giuseppe Mazzini, and its membership included many figures from the traditional Sicilian aristocracy, including princes, barons and even clergymen, among them the Archbishop of Monreale, Monsignor Benedetto Purchase.

Yet the response of the new national government was uncompromising. On September 27, ships of the Italian Royal Navy bombarded Palermo, destroying the homes of hundreds of citizens, after which the cholera outbreak only accelerated, eventually claiming almost 4,000 victims.

Bandit groups were blamed for stirring
up anti-government sentiments

The  bombardment paved the way for 40,000 troops to be landed in the city, a force ultimately too powerful for the insurgents. House-to-house fighting destroyed still more buildings and rioters were rounded up and summarily executed. Almost 2,500 citizens were arrested, although fewer than 200 were ultimately convicted.

Army casualties were put at just over 200, along with 42 policemen. The number of insurgents killed is unknown and the estimated figure of 1,000 is probably an under-estimate.

Although this uprising was ultimately quelled, Sicily’s problems did not go away. Outbreaks of less organised violence continued, often blamed on local bandits, and the island’s economic difficulties led to increased emigration, particularly to the United States. Left-wing political groups gained popularity.

Yet Italy’s politicians on the mainland never effectively dealt with the economic imbalance between the north and south and this can be blamed, along with the dismantling of the traditional structures of society, for the growth and influence of organised crime in the shape of the Sicilian Mafia, as well as the Camorra in Naples and its surrounds, the ‘Ndrangheta in Calabria and other groups.

Palermo's magnificent Cathedral of the 
Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Travel tip:

Although Palermo has long been associated with the Mafia and organised crime, visitors to the city would normally witness nothing to suggest that the criminal underworld has any influence on daily life.  The Sicilian capital, on the northern coast of the island, is a vibrant city with a wealth of beautiful architecture bearing testament to a history of northern European and Arabian influences.  The church of San Cataldo on Piazza Bellini is a good example of the fusion of Norman and Arabic architectural styles, having a bell tower typical of those common in northern France but with three spherical red domes on the roof, while the city’s majestic Cathedral of the Assumption of Virgin Mary includes Norman, Moorish, Gothic, Baroque and Neoclassical elements. Palermo’s opera house, the Teatro Massimo is the largest in Italy and the third biggest in Europe.

The Cathedral of Santa Maria Nuova at Monreale
is described as the finest Norman building in Sicily

Travel tip:

Monreale, which was also the scene of an uprising in 1866,  is an historic hill town about 12km (7 miles) west of Palermo. Its Cathedral of Santa Maria Nuova and the adjoining cloisters have been described as the finest Norman buildings in Sicily, its extravagant features in part down to the competition with Palermo to build the island’s greatest cathedral. The buildings have their origin in the 12th century, commissioned by the Norman ruler William II. Mosaic making is still taught in Monreale today, with many workshops around the town. The local cuisine is a mix of traditional Sicilian and cookery of Arab origins. 

Also on this day:

1797: The birth of Sir Anthony Panizzi, librarian at the British Museum

1841: The birth of revolutionary politician Alessandro Fortis

2005: The arrest of Camorra boss Paolo di Lauro

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The wedding of Stefano Türr and Adelina Bonaparte

Hungarian General married Napoleon’s beautiful great niece

Türr switched sides after witnessing
Austrian cruelty against Italian troops

The wedding of a Hungarian soldier who fought alongside Giuseppe Garibaldi to a woman who was the great niece of Napoleon Bonaparte took place on this day in 1861 in Mantua in Lombardy.

The bridegroom was Stefano Türr - Istvan Türr in Hungarian - a soldier, revolutionary, canal architect and engineer, who is remembered in Italy for the role he played in the battle for the country’s unification.

Türr took a major part in the Expedition of the Thousand and was promoted to General, commanding Italian troops as they moved north from Sicily to Salerno. He was appointed Governor of Salerno by Garibaldi. Victor Emanuel II made him an aide de camp and entrusted him with sensitive diplomatic matters.

The bride was Adelina Bonaparte Wyse, who was a cousin of Napoleon III of France and granddaughter of Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon I’s brother. 

Türr had been accepted into the Austrian Army at the age of 17, but while stationed in Lombardy in 1848 had witnessed the cruel reprisals taken against rebellious Italians at Monza and changed his loyalties.

In 1849 he crossed a bridge over the Ticino river and joined the Piedmont side. He was placed in charge of other Hungarian soldiers who had deserted and led them during the First Italian War of Independence.

Türr married Adelina Bonaparte
at a ceremony in Mantua

After the final Austrian victory at Novara, it was decided to abandon the Hungarian legion. But Türr’s men voted to stay together and continue to fight anyway. Many years of difficulties and disappointments were to follow for Türr, who had to move between Switzerland, France, England and Piedmont because he would have been executed as a deserter if he returned to Hungary.

During the Crimean War he raised  a force of Hungarian exiles to fight against Russia. When he was sent to an area occupied by Austria, he was arrested, court martialled and sentenced to death. There were strong British protests, even involving Queen Victoria, and instead the Austrians banished him from their territory perpetually. Türr returned to Italy to fight in the Second Italian war of Independence and joined Garibaldi’s volunteer unit. He was dubbed the ‘Fearless Hungarian’ after chasing the Austrians near Brescia and being badly wounded.

Türr’s wife, Adelina, was the daughter of Princess Maria Letizia Bonaparte, the daughter of Napoleon’s brother, Lucien. Her legal father was Sir Thomas Wyse, the British Minister to Athens, but Princess Maria Letizia had previously separated from him and she was really fathered by Captain Studholme John Hodgson, her mother’s lover.

Also in 1861, Adelina’s sister, Laetitia Marie, married Urbano Rattazzi, who served as Italian prime minister during the 1860s.

Türr was alongside Garibaldi as he launched
his Expedition of the Thousand in 1860

With the help of Adelina, Türr wrote to Prince Napoleon, the Emperor’s cousin and advisor, on behalf of the Italian cause. The prince was known to be an opponent of the policy of letting French troops preserve the Pope’s temporal power over Rome.

Victor Emmanuel of Savoy had been declared King of the newly unified Italy in 1861 by the first Italian parliament, which had also named Rome as the capital of the new kingdom, even though they had still not gained control of the city.

A French garrison had remained in Rome on the orders of Napoleon III in support of Pope Pius IX, to appease fervent French Catholics.

But in 1870, after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, Napoleon III had to withdraw many of his troops. Crack infantry soldiers from Piedmont led by General Raffaele Cadorna seized their chance and after a brief bombardment entered Rome through a breach in the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia. Victor Emanuel II was able to take up residence in the Quirinale Palace, Italy was declared officially united and the Risorgimento was finally over.  

Victor Emanuel II had previously written to the Pope offering a proposal that would have allowed the Italian army to enter Rome peacefully, but the pope had rejected this.

Pope Pius IX and his successors refused to recognise the right of Italian Kings to reign over what had been formerly known as the Papal States. It was not until the Lateran Treaty of 1929 that ‘the Roman question’ was settled by establishing Vatican City as an independent state.

In 1862, Türr acquired a villa in Pallanza with a garden facing Lake Maggiore. He and his wife Adelina became popular with the local people, Türr helping labourers with donations and becoming honorary president of the Società Operaia di Pallanza, while Adelina visited children in the local orphanages. Türr and Adelina had one son, Raoul, who was born in 1865. They enjoyed long holidays at their villa, often recorded in the local newspaper, which praised Adelina’s beauty.

In the 1870s Türr became a peace activist, regularly attending Peace Congresses and saying he now detested war.

The Piazza Mantegna is at the Renaissance
heart of Mantua, where the couple were married

Travel tip:

Mantua, where Türr married Adelina, is an atmospheric old city in Lombardy, to the southeast of Milan. In the Renaissance heart of Mantua is Piazza Mantegna, where the 15th century Basilica of Sant’Andrea houses the tomb of the artist, Andrea Mantegna. The church was originally built to accommodate the large number of pilgrims who came to Mantua to see a precious relic, an ampoule containing what were believed to be drops of Christ’s blood mixed with earth. This was claimed to have been collected at the site of his crucifixion by a Roman soldier. The highlight of the city is the Renaissance Palazzo Ducale, the seat of the Gonzaga family between 1328 and 1707. The Camera degli Sposi is decorated with frescoes by Andrea Mantegna, depicting the life of Ludovico Gonzaga and his family in the 15th century. The beautiful backgrounds of imaginary cities and ruins reflect Mantegna’s love of classical architecture.

The waterfront at Pallanza on Lake Maggiore,
where Stefano Türr bought a villa

Travel tip:

Türr bought a villa at Pallanza on the shores of Lake Maggiore in Piedmont as a holiday home for himself and his wife. It had been built in the 1850s by Bernardino Branca, the inventor of Fernet Branca, with gardens facing the lake. The family spent long holidays there, but after Türr was allowed to return to Hungary, they visited less and he sold the villa in 1876. It is now called Villa Rusconi Clerici. Türr returned to visit Pallanza many times afterwards and in 1888, when he became a naturalised Italian, it was recorded on the document that he lived in Pallanza.  

Also on this day:

1887: The birth of politician Giovanni Gronchi

1890: The birth of fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli

1930: The birth of holocaust survivor Liliana Segre 

1960: Historic victory at Rome Olympics

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Luigi Cadorna – Marshall of Italy

Tough military leader was blamed for losing crucial battle

General Luigi Cadorna was Chief of Staff
of the Italian Army in the First World War

Luigi Cadorna, a military General who was made a Marshall of Italy, was born on this day in 1850 in Verbania, on the shore of Lake Maggiore in the Piedmont region.

Cadorna is most remembered for his role as Chief of Staff of the Italian Army during the first part of the First World War.

His father was General Raffaele Cadorna, the Piedmontese military leader whose capture of Rome in 1870 completed the unification of Italy.

Sent by his father to a military school in Milan from the age of 10, he entered the Turin Military Academy when he was 15 and, after graduating at the age of 18, was commissioned as a second lieutenant of artillery.

He participated in the occupation of Rome in 1870 as part of the force commanded by his father.

After becoming a Major, Cadorna was appointed to the staff of General Pianelli and became Chief of Staff of the Verona Divisional Command.

From 1892 he was the Colonel commanding the 10th Regiment of Bersaglieri, where he acquired a reputation for strict discipline and harsh punishment.

He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1898 and subsequently held a number of senior command positions.

General Cadorno (fourth from the right) inspecting Italian
troops ahead of the second Isonzo offensive

By 1915, when Italy was about to enter the First World War, Cadorna was on the verge of retiring and had a history of differences with his political and military superiors.

But he was offered the post of Chief of Staff and took Italy into the war with 36 infantry divisions composed of 875,000 men, armed with only a small number of modern artillery pieces.

Large numbers of men and equipment had been deployed to Tripolitania in Libya, leaving the home army disorganised and short of equipment.

Cadorna launched four offensives along the Isonzo river with the aim of capturing Gorizia from the Austrians, but they all failed, leaving 250,000 Italian casualties.

Cadorna would ultimately fight 11 unsuccessful battles in unsuitable terrain between 1915 and 1917.

In October 1917, a combined Austro-Hungarian army advanced, defeating Cadorna’s troops at Caporetto. The troops managed to get as far as the Piave River, because Cadorna’s tactics had provided little defence in depth.

General Armando Diaz led the defeat of the
Austro-Hungarian army after replacing Cadorna

The Italian army fled in disarray and seemed on the verge of total collapse, with 275,000 soldiers captured.

During the battle, Cadorna had ordered the execution of all officers whose units retreated.

Italy’s allies, Britain and France, insisted on the dismissal of Cadorna and sent 11 divisions to reinforce the Italian front.

Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando appointed General Armando Diaz as Chief of General Staff and Cadorna was reassigned to be the Italian representative at the Allied Supreme War Council set up in Versailles.

The restored Italian defensive line held firm during the Battle of the Piave River, providing a springboard for the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, where the Austro-Hungarian army was finally defeated.

After the war, the Italian Government held an inquiry into the defeat at Caporetto and the published report was critical of Cadorna.

He wrote in his memoirs that he was not responsible for the defeat, despite having fled to Padua during the battle.

In 1924, after Benito Mussolini seized power, Cadorna was made a Field Marshall (Maresciallo d’Italia), an honour recognising his service to Italy before and during the war. Cadorna died in Bordighera in 1928 at the age of 78.  His body was entombed in a mausoleum designed by the architect Marcello Piacentini by the waterside at Verbania.

His son, Raffaele Cadorna, also became a General, fighting in the First and Second World Wars. He became famous for his actions as one of the commanders of the Italian Resistance, fighting against the Germans who were still occupying northern Italy after 1943.

A picture taken from Verbania at sunset with the Cadorna
Mausoleum in the foreground and Isolina di San Giovanni

Travel tip:

Verbania, where Luigi Cadorna was born, is a town on the shore of Lake Maggiore, about 91km (57 miles) northwest of Milan and about 40km (25 miles) from Locarno in Switzerland. Verbania is also known as Verbania Pallanza, following its merger with Intra, Pallanza and Suna in 1939. It faces the city of Stresa across the lake. A small island a few metres from the shore, known as the Isolino di San Giovanni, is famous for having been the home of Arturo Toscanini, between 1927 and 1952. 

Milano Cadorna railway station is named after Luigi Cadorna

Travel tip:

Milano Cadorna railway station in Piazzale Luigi Cadorna, near the Castello Sforzesco, provides a permanent reminder of the General to all rail commuters. The original station building was destroyed by bombing in the Second World War and the current building was restored, along with the square, in 1999. Piazzale Cadorna is now a Milan transport hub with an underground station, tram stops and 11 bus stops.

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