Michele Giuseppe Albini (

Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; ; ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located southwest of the Principality of Monaco, which is just west of the French-Italian ...

, 20 September 1780 –

Spotorno Spotorno () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. Today the town is an important holiday center of Riviera delle Palme, but in th ...

, 31 July 1859) was an Italian admiral and politician, who was commander of the naval squadron of the

Royal Sardinian Navy The Royal Sardinian Navy was the naval force of the Kingdom of Sardinia. The fleet was created in 1720 when the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, Victor Amadeus II, became the King of Sardinia. Victor Amadeus had acquired the vessels ...

sent to the aid of the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...

during the

First Italian War of Independence The First Italian War of Independence (), part of the ''Risorgimento'' or unification of Italy, was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other conse ...

. Senator of the Kingdom of Sardinia, awarded the honours of Grand Officer of the

Military Order of Savoy The Military Order of Savoy was a military honorary order of the Kingdom of Sardinia first, and of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Kingdom of Italy later. Following the abolition of the Italian monarchy, the order became the Military Order of ...

, and Grand Officer of the

Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus () (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the world, tracing its lineage to AD 1098, a ...

, he was the father of the admirals Giovan Battista and Augusto Albini.

Career

He began his military career at a very young age in Sardinian navy in the port of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

'' Alceste'', he took part in the

siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts and the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by forces of the French Re ...

and was subsequently taken prisoner of war on 8 June 1794, when the ''Alceste'' was captured by the French frigate '' Boudeuse''. Promoted to lieutenant in December 1803, he was commander of the

xebec A xebec ( or ), also spelled zebec, was a Mediterranean sailing ship that originated in the barbary states (Algeria), it was used mostly for trading. Xebecs had a long overhanging bowsprit and aft-set mizzen mast. The term can also refer to a ...

''Vittorio Emanuele'' during the campaign against the Barbary pirates. He commanded the launch ''Benvenuto'' during the hydrographic expedition for the drafting of a new

portolan Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian ''portolano'', meaning "related to ports or harbors", and wh ...

of Sardinia designed by him, and during the capture of a small corsair vessel under

Cape Bon Cape Bon ("Good Cape"), also known as Res et-Teib (), Shrīk Peninsula, or Watan el Kibli, is a peninsula in far northeastern Tunisia. Cape Bon is also the name of the northernmost point on the peninsula, also known as Res ed-Der, and known in ant ...

in 1808. He was subsequently commander of the xebec ''Carloforte'' with which he captured a French corsair in 1810 and two Barbary merchantmen in 1811. Promoted to lieutenant in 1812, he commanded the brig ''Veloce'' in the Capraia expedition (1815), and was then promoted to 1st lieutenant and then 3rd captain. Captain of the vessel in 2nd rank, he was commander of the corvette ''Aurora'' operating in the waters off

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

(5 May - 2 June 1830), and then of the frigates '' :it: Commercio di Genova'' (1832) and '' Regina'' (1839-1840). Having become rear admiral in 1838, he was made Senator of the Kingdom of Sardinia (3 April 1848). After the outbreak of the first war of independence he assumed command of the squadron sent to the Adriatic to help the Republic of Venice. During the this assignment, he had some disagreements with rear admiral :it:Giorgio Mameli, vice-commander of the naval squadron. On 20 October 1848 he was awarded the title of Commander of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. The command of the fleet was taken away from him in 1849 for having hesitated to obey the order to bring the Sardinian fleet and troops back to

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

. as required in the armistice agreement signed by the Piedmontese and Austrian governments. The naval fleet left Ancona and went to Venice to embark the soldiers of the Sardinian Army present there, but the fact caused a partial mutiny of the crews of the ships, in particular on the frigates '' San Michele'' (the flagship) and ''Beroldo''. Promoted to the rank of vice-admiral and made count on 3 April 1850, he entered the Naval General Staff, and the Permanent Consultative Congress, of the general council of maritime health and of the Commission for the examination of the bill on military recruitment (5 February 1851). He was awarded the honours of Grand Officer of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus (26 April) and Grand Officer of the Military Order of Savoy (12 June 1856). member of the

Italian Geographical Society Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

since 1868, author of a Portolan of Liguria, he donated the pendulum abandoned in San Stefano in 1793 by Napoleon Bonaparte to the naval museum.in Santo Stefano.

Personal life

He was the son of Giovanni Battista Albini and the noblewoman Carmen Maddalena Evangelisti Alighiero. He married Raffaella D'Ornano, a relative of

Philippe Antoine d'Ornano Philippe Antoine d'Ornano, Comte d'Ornano (; 17 January 1784 – 13 October 1863) was a French soldier and politician who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of France in 1861. Early life D'Orna ...

, uncle of

Napoleon Bonaparte 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 ...

, with whom he had six children: Giovan Battista, Giorgio, Augusto, Maddalena, Giovanna (who married a nobleman of the Campofregoso family of Genoa) and Francesca.

Honours

Italian honours

Foreign honours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albini, Giuseppe 1780 births 1859 deaths People from Nice Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Italian admirals People of the Barbary Wars People of the First Italian War of Independence Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Military Order of Savoy Military personnel of the Kingdom of Sardinia Italian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars