Luigi Facta (; 16 November 1861 – 5 November 1930) was an Italian politician, lawyer and journalist and the last

prime minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

before the dictatorship of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

Background and earlier career

Facta was born in

Pinerolo Pinerolo (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The Lemina torrent has its source at the boundary between Pinerolo and San Pietro Val di Lemi ...

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 ...

, Italy. He studied law and later became a lawyer and journalist. He entered politics in 1892 when he was elected to the

chamber of deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

for Pinerolo, a seat which he held for 30 years. Facta, a member of the Liberal Party, served as undersecretary of the justice and interior departments in the coalition cabinet for much of his time in Parliament. He was also the

Italian Minister of Finance This is a list of Italian ministers of finance, from 1861 to present. List of ministers of finance Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) ;Parties: *1861–1912: ** ** *1914–1922: ** ** ** ** ** *1922–1943: ** *1943–1946: ** ** ** ** ;Coalitions * ...

from 1910 until 1914 and 1920 until 1921. He served also as minister of justice from 1919 until 1920. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Facta supported neutrality for Italy, but then supported the war when Italy entered it. His son was killed in the war, and he said that he was proud to give a son to the fatherland.

Prime Minister of Italy

Facta was appointed prime minister in February 1922; leading a centre-right government. As noted by one study, Facta took office "at the head of a Cabinet of definitely more right-wing tendency than the last." At the time, Italy was in political turmoil and was dealing with Mussolini's fascist insurgency. When Mussolini decided to march on Rome, Facta reacted and wanted to declare martial law and send the army to stop Mussolini. A prerequisite for such a declaration to take effect was the monarch's signature, which was not granted. Facta always refused to explain the secret reasons that brought King

Victor Emmanuel III Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albani ...

not to sign the declaration of emergency. The following day, Facta and his government resigned to demonstrate they did not approve of the King's decision. The King then requested that Mussolini come to Rome to form a new government.

Later life; death and legacy

In 1924, King Victor Emmanuel III named Facta senator in the

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

. Facta died in Pinerolo, Italy, in 1930, with the general population believing him to have been too feeble and faithful to the King to take a more active role to stop Mussolini and the rise of Fascism.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Facta, Luigi 1861 births 1930 deaths People from Pinerolo Ministers of the interior of Italy Prime ministers of Italy Ministers of finance of Italy Italian journalists Italian male journalists Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy