Cesare Balbo, Conte di Vinadio (21 November 1789 – 3 June 1853), was an Italian writer and statesman.

Biography

Balbo was 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 ...

on 21 November 1789. His father, Prospero Balbo, who belonged to a noble Piedmontese family, held a high position in the court of the Savoyard

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, and at the time of Cesare's birth was mayor of the capital. His mother, Enrichetta Taparelli d'Azeglio, died when he was three years old; and he was brought up in the house of his great-grandmother, the

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

ess of Bugino. In 1798 he joined his father at

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. From 1808 to 1814 Balbo served in various capacities under the Napoleonic empire in

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, Paris and in

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. On the fall of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, he entered the service of his native country. While his father was appointed minister of the interior, he entered the army, and undertook political missions to Paris and London. On the outbreak of the revolution of 1821, of which he disapproved, although he was suspected of sympathizing with it, he was forced into exile; and though not long after he was allowed to return to

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, all public service was denied him. Reluctantly, and with frequent endeavours to obtain some appointment, he gave himself up to literature as the only means left him to influence the destinies of his country. The great object of his labours was to help in securing the independence of Italy from foreign control. Of true Italian unity, he had no expectation and no desire, but he was devoted to the house of Savoy, which he foresaw was destined to change the fate of Italy. A confederation of separate states, not under the supremacy of the pope like Gioberti, but led by Piedmont, was the genuine ideal of Balbo. But Gioberti, in his Primato, seemed to him to neglect the first essential of independence, which he accordingly inculcated in his "Speranze or Hopes of Italy", in which he suggests that

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should seek compensation in the

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for the inevitable loss of her Italian provinces. Balbo believed that the papacy could become an enemy of a large, united Italy (as it did, indeed, become for many years). Preparation, banter military and moral, alertness and patience were his constant theme. He did not desire revolution, but reform; and thus he became the leader of a moderate party, and the steady opponent not only of

despotism In political science, despotism () is a government, form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute Power (social and political), power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot (as in an autocracy), but societies whi ...

but of

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

. At last in 1848 his hopes were to some extent satisfied by the constitution granted by the king, known as the '' Statuto Albertino''. He was appointed a member of the commission on the electoral law, and became the first constitutional prime minister of

, but only held office a few months. With the ministry of d’Azeglio, which soon after came to power, he was on friendly terms, and his pen continued the active defence of his political principles till his death on 3 June 1853. He published ''Quattro Novelle'' in 1829; ''Storia d’Italia sotto i Barbari'' in 1830; ''Vita di Dante'', 1839; ''Meditazioni Storiche'', 1842—1845; ''Le Speranze d’Italia'', 1844; ''Pensieri sulla Storia d’Italia'', 1858; ''Della Monarchia rappresentativa in Italia'' (

, 1857).

References

Sources

* * Isabella, Maurizio. "Aristocratic Liberalism and Risorgimento: Cesare Balbo and Piedmontese Political Thought after 1848." ''History of European Ideas'' 39#6 (2013): 835–857.

External links

* * * *Cesare Balbo, ''The Life and Times of Dante Alighieri''
Part IPart II
translated by F.J. Bunbury, R. Bentley, 1852. {{DEFAULTSORT:Balbo, Cesare 1789 births 1853 deaths Italian Roman Catholic writers Politicians from Turin Prime ministers of the Kingdom of Sardinia 19th-century Italian male writers 19th-century Roman Catholics Writers from Turin 19th-century Italian politicians Liberal Catholicism