Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora (; 18 November 18045 January 1878) was an Italian general and statesman. His older brothers include soldier and naturalist Alberto della Marmora and Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora, founder of the branch of the Italian army now called the Bersaglieri.

Biography

Alfonso La Marmora litografia Archivio Storico Torino

Born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, he entered the

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

n army in 1823, and was a captain in March 1848, when he gained distinction and the rank of major at the . On 5 August 1848 he liberated

Charles Albert of Sardinia Charles Albert (; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), King of Sardinia and ruler of the Savoyard state from 27 April 1831 until his abdication in 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constit ...

from a revolutionary mob in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, and in October was promoted general and appointed Minister of War. After suppressing the revolt of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in 1849, he again assumed in November 1849 the portfolio of war, which, save during the period of his command of the Crimean expedition (where he commanded at the siege of Sevastopol and the battle of the Chernaya), he retained until 1859. This cites G. Massani, ''Il generale Alfonso La Marmora'' (Milan, 1880) He took part in the war of 1859 against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

; and in July of that year succeeded Cavour in the premiership. In 1860 he was sent to Berlin and

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

to arrange for the recognition of the

kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

and subsequently he held the offices of governor of Milan and royal lieutenant at

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, until, in September 1864, he succeeded

Marco Minghetti Marco Minghetti (18 November 1818 – 10 December 1886) was an Italian economist and statesman. Biography Minghetti was born in Bologna, then part of the Papal States. With Antonio Montanan and Rodolfo Audinot he founded at Bologna a pape ...

as premier. In this capacity, he modified the scope of the September Convention by a note in which he claimed for Italy full freedom of action in respect of national aspirations to the possession of Rome, a document of which Visconti-Venosta afterwards took advantage when justifying the Italian occupation of Rome in 1870. In April 1866 La Marmora concluded a

military alliance A military alliance is a formal Alliance, agreement between nations that specifies mutual obligations regarding national security. In the event a nation is attacked, members of the alliance are often obligated to come to their defense regardless ...

with

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

against

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, and, on the outbreak of the

Third Italian War of Independence The Third Italian War of Independence () was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in Austria giving the region of Venetia (p ...

in June, took command of an army corps. He is largely credited of the hesitant conduct of the first phases of the Italian invasion, which, despite the large Italian superiority, led to the defeat in the battle of Custoza on 23 June. Accused of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

by his fellow countrymen, in particular by other high-rank generals, and of duplicity by the Prussians, he eventually published in defence of his tactics (1873) a series of documents entitled ''Un po' più di luce sugli eventi dell'anno 1866'' ("More light on the events of 1866"), a step which caused irritation in Germany, and exposed him to the charge of having violated state secrets. Meanwhile, he was sent to Paris in 1867 to oppose the French expedition to Rome, and in 1870, after the occupation of Rome by the Italians, was appointed lieutenant-royal of the new capital. He died in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

on 5 January 1878. La Marmora's writings include ''Un episodio di risorgimento italiano'' (1875) and ''Il segreto di stato nel governo costituzionale'' (1877).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Marmora 1804 births 1878 deaths Military personnel from Turin Prime ministers of Italy Italian people of the Italian unification Ministers of foreign affairs of Italy Ministers of the navy of Italy Prime ministers of the Kingdom of Sardinia Politicians from Turin Military personnel of the Crimean War Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Kingdom of Italy) Deputies of Legislature VIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature IX of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XII of the Kingdom of Italy People of the First Italian War of Independence People of the Second Italian War of Independence People of the Third Italian War of Independence Italian Army generals Generals of former Italian states