Alessandro Fortis (16 September 1842 – 4 December 1909) was an Italian politician who served as the 18th

prime minister of Italy The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...

from 1905 to 1906.

Early career

Fortis was born in

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via ...

, in

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

, Italy, and became a lawyer. A republican follower of

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...

, he joined Giuseppe GaribaldiSarti, ''Italy: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present''
p. 290
/ref> in 1866 and fought with him first in Trentino then at Mentana and in France.Fortis, Alessandro
Historical Dictionary of modern Italy After being elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1880, Fortis initially worked under Francesco Crispi as Under Secretary of the Interior (1887–1890). He served as Agriculture Minister from 1898 to 1899 in the first government of

Luigi Pelloux Luigi Gerolamo Pelloux ( La Roche-sur-Foron, 1 March 1839 – Bordighera, 26 October 1924) was an Italian general and politician, born of parents who retained their Italian nationality when Savoy was annexed to France. He was the Prime Minister o ...

(June 1898–May 1899). He resigned in 1899 and subsequently joined the liberal opposition of Giovanni Giolitti, whose liberal reformism was closest to Fortis’s own political views that had moderated over time. Fortis argued that a view of the state "which abstains from everything, which increasingly reduces its actions and its responsibilities; the state which is feared, rather than appealed to ... is, it seems to me, doomed to die out."Ashley, ''Making Liberalism Work''
p. 48
/ref> The moderate liberals opposed the repressive measures of Pelloux restricting political activity and free speech, and aimed to uphold constitutional liberties. Fortis supported the governments of

Giuseppe Zanardelli Giuseppe Zanardelli (29 October 1826 26 December 1903) was an Italian jurist and political figure. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 15 February 1901 to 3 November 1903. An eloquent orator, he was also a Grand Master freemason. Zan ...

(February 1901 – November 1903) and Giolitti (November 1903 – March 1905).

Prime Minister

In March 1905 on the recommendation of Giolitti, he formed his first government, mainly related to the nationalization of the railways, after confronting a railroad strike on April 17–22 that year,Italian Railroad Men To Begin Strike To-Day; Trains to be Run by Soldiers and Navy Engineers
The New York Times, April 17, 1905Italian Strike Ended; Arbitration Between Government and Railroad Men Planned
The New York Times, April 22, 1905 which could have paralyzed transportation in the country. Railroad workers became public employees, which deprived them of the right to strike.Ashley, ''Making Liberalism Work''
p. 65
/ref> In September 1905, Fortis visited Calabria and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

to examine firsthand the extent of the damage of the

1905 Calabria earthquake Striking southern Italy on September 8, the 1905 Calabria earthquake had a moment magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The first major earthquake of the 20th century, it severely damaged parts of Lipari, Messin ...

. Subsequently he introduced a special law to aid these southern regions. This measure was the first real acknowledgment by the Italian state of the fundamental problems underlying southern underdevelopment. His government was defeated in the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

) in December 1905, when a trade treaty with Spain that would have significantly reduced Italian tariffs on Spanish wine, met with severe parliamentary and public opposition and was rejected.Three Cabinets Resign; Italian, Greek, and Montenegrin - Italy's Modus with Spain Rejected
The New York Times, December 18, 1905 Fortis resigned, was reappointed and formed a new government, which did not gain the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies, after which Fortis definitively resigned in February 1906.De Grand, ''The hunchback's tailor''
p. 123
/ref>

Death and family

Fortis was Jewish.Hooper, John (2016).
The Italians
', Penguin Publishing Group, , p. 123. He died on 4 December 1909 in Rome.

References

* Ashley, Susan A. (2003).
Making Liberalism Work: The Italian Experience, 1860-1914
', Westport (CT): Praeger Publishers, * Braber, Ben (2013).
This cannot happen here
', Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, * De Grand, Alexander J. (2001).
The hunchback's tailor: Giovanni Giolitti and liberal Italy from the challenge of mass politics to the rise of fascism, 1882-1922
', Greenwood. * Hooper, John (2016).
The Italians
', Penguin Publishing Group, * Sarti, Roland (2004).
Italy: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present
', New York: Facts on File Inc.,

External links