Prince Luigi Marcantonio Francesco Rodolfo Scipione Borghese, commonly known as Scipione Borghese (11 September 1871 – 18 November 1927), was an Italian aristocrat, industrialist, politician, explorer, mountain climber and racing driver belonging to the

House of Borghese The House of Borghese ( , ) is a family of Italian noble and papal background, originating as the Borghese or Borghesi in Siena, where they came to prominence in the 13th century and held offices under the '' commune''. During the 16th century, t ...

. He is best known for participating in (and winning) the

Peking to Paris The Peking to Paris motor race was an automobile race, originally held in 1907, between Beijing, Peking (now Beijing), then Qing dynasty, Qing China (now the China, People's Republic of China) and Paris, France (then the Third French Republic), a ...

race in 1907, accompanied by the journalist Luigi Barzini Sr. and Ettore Guizzardi, the prince's chauffeur, who apparently did most of the driving. Nevertheless, before 1907 he had already become known internationally as a traveller, explorer, diplomat and mountain climber. In 1900 he had finished a journey in Asia from

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. His book ''In Asia: Siria, Eufrate, Babilonia'' (In Asia: Syria, Euphrates, Babylon), published in 1903 and which proved a success, describes his journey from Beirut to Basra and the head of the Persian Gulf. Subsequently, he also completed a journey across China, recounted in another book, Catching Fire. Tall and abstemious, he was a man of few words, cold, with calm and measured manners, and with great self-control. He was a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

of the

Partito Radicale The Radical Party (, PR) was a Liberalism, liberal and Libertarianism, libertarian political party in Italy. For decades, inspired by 19th-century classical radicalism, the Radical Party was a bastion of anti-clericalism, civil libertarianism ...

in the

Italian parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

of 1904 to 1913, fought bravely in the

First World War 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 ...

, and began important improvement works in the "

Agro Romano The ''Ager Romanus'' (literally, "the field of Rome"') is the geographical rural area (part plains, part hilly) that surrounds the city of Rome. Politically and historically, it has represented the area of influence of Rome's municipal government ...

Family

Borghese was the eldest son of Paolo, 9th Prince of

Sulmona Sulmona (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of L'Aquila, in the Italy, Italian region of Abruzzo. It is located in the Valle Peligna, a plain once occupied by a lake that disappeared in prehistoric times. In the ancient era, it was ...

(1845–1920) and his wife Ilona, Countess Apponyi de Nagy-Appony. He was twice married, firstly to Anna Maria de Ferrari (23 March 1874 – 25 November 1924), daughter of Gaetano, duca di Ferrari by his wife Maria Annenkov, on 23 May 1895, and they had two daughters. His second marriage to Teodora Martini on 8 August 1926 produced no issue. He was succeeded in the title

Prince of Sulmona Prince of Sulmona (Italian language, Italian: ''Principe di Sulmona'') is a nobility, noble title of Italian origin. The title derives its name from Sulmona, a town in Abruzzo. It was originally granted in 1526 with Grandee, Grandeeship of Spain, d ...

by his brother Livio Borghese, 11th Prince of Sulmona (1874–1939), second son of the 9th Prince.

Children

Santa Borghese
(1 November 1897 in Paris – 13 April 1997 in Rome). She married Astorre Hercolani, 9th Prince of Hercolani on 4 July 1925 at Isola Borghese,

Lago di Garda Lake Garda (, , or , ; ; ) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, between Brescia and Milan to the west, and Verona and Venice to the east. The lake cuts into the edge of the Eastern Alps, Italian Alp ...

. They had 7 children, whose first names all start with the letter A.
Livia Borghese
(4 March 1901 in Paris – 14 December 1969 in Bologna, nine months after the death of her husband); she married Alessandro, conte Cavazza (1895–1969) on 30 December 1930 at Isola Borghese, Lago di Garda, by whom she had three sons (the eldest apparently born in 1922, or eight years before her marriage), and several descendants.

Sources

*''This page is a translation of its Italian counterpart.''

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Borghese, Scipione 1871 births 1927 deaths 20th-century Italian politicians 20th-century travel writers Deputies of Legislature XXII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXIII of the Kingdom of Italy Scipione Italian businesspeople Italian explorers Italian International Olympic Committee members Italian male writers Italian military personnel of World War I Italian mountain climbers Italian racing drivers Italian Radical Party politicians Italian travel writers People from the Province of Ferrara