Domenico Farini (2 July 1834 – 18 January 1900) was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was

President of the Italian Senate The president of the Senate of the Republic () is the presiding officer of the Italian Senate. The President of the Senate is the second highest-ranking office of the Italian Republic (after the president of the Republic). Since 13 October 202 ...

from 1887 to 1898. He was the son of politician

Luigi Carlo Farini Luigi Carlo Farini (22 October 1812 – 1 August 1866) was an Italian physician, statesman and historian. Biography Farini was born at Russi, in what is now the province of Ravenna. After completing a university course at Bologna, whic ...

Biography

Farini was born at Montescudolo, in the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

(present-day

province of Forlì-Cesena The Province of Forlì-Cesena () is a province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capitals are the cities of Forlì and Cesena. The province has a population of 394,273 as of 2016 over an area of . It contains 30 '' comuni'' (: ''comu ...

). After a period in

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, he followed his family in exile to

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

and then to

Osimo Osimo is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche region of Italy, in the province of Ancona. The municipality covers a hilly area located approximately south of the port city of Ancona and the Adriatic Sea. History The oldest archaeological evide ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In 1850 he entered the Military Academy of

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 ...

, and later commanded a Sardinian sapper company during the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Sardinian War, the Austro-Sardinian War, the Franco-Austrian War, or the Italian War of 1859 (Italian: ''Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana''; German: ''Sardinischer Krieg''; French: ...

. He also took part in the sieges of

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

and

siege of Gaeta (1861) The siege of Gaeta can refer to several historical sieges of the city of Gaeta in Italy: *Siege of Gaeta (1435), siege by Alfonso V of Aragon against a Genoese garrison *Siege of Gaeta (1707), Austrian attack during the War of the Spanish Successio ...

, and in 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 ...

. Later he was part of the national staff of the newly formed Italian Army. Farini was elected into the

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies () is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the upper house being the Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senate of the Republic. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform ...

in 1864, in the college of Ravenna, for the centre-left coalition. He was president of the Chamber for three times between 1878 and 1884. After a period of absence from the political activities, which he spent at

Saluggia Saluggia (''Salugia'' in Piedmontese) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southwest of Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46 ...

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 ...

, Farini was elected to the Italian Senate in 1886. The following year he was named president of the latter. In that period he wrote a diary, a collection of personal thoughts, which expresses his ideals of unity within the newly formed national monarchy, and his strong anti-clerical position. The book was published by the Italian senate in 1961 with the title ''Diario di fine secolo''. He died of cancer in Rome in January 1900.

References

Sources

"Domenico Farini"
in the

Enciclopedia Italiana Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded by Giovanni Treccani ...

's ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani''

External links