Alberto Ferrero La Marmora (or Della Marmora; 7 April 1789 – 18 March 1863) was an Italian

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

and naturalist. He was elder brother to

Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora (27 March 1799 – 7 June 1855) was an Italian general who is best remembered for founding the military unit known as the Bersaglieri. Two of his brothers were Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora and Alberto Ferrero la Marm ...

, soldier and founder of the

Bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Army, which ...

, and to

Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora (; 18 November 18045 January 1878) was an Italian general and statesman. His older brothers include soldier and naturalist Alberto della Marmora and Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora, founder of the branch of the Italian ...

, Italian general and statesman. Born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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 ...

but educated at the Ecole Militaire de Fontainebleau, graduating in 1807, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant of infantry in the French Army. He was the second of four brothers, all of whom had distinguished military careers. He served under MacDonald in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and in 1809 he joined the army of the

Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (1805–1814; it, Regno d'Italia; french: Royaume d'Italie) was a kingdom in Northern Italy (formerly the Italian Republic) in personal union with Napoleon I's French Empire. It was fully influenced by revolutionary Franc ...

, participating in the campaign in Venetia. He fought at the Battle of Bautzen at the age of 24 and following the defeat of the combined Russian and Prussian forces in that engagement he was personally decorated with the Legion d'Honneur by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. After Napoleon's abdication Marmora gave his allegiance to the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...

, the ruling house of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Marmora was posted to

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

, from where he sent the first specimens of the warbler that bears his name, '' Sylvia sarda'' or Marmora's warbler, to Turin, where his description was read out at the Turin Academy on 28 August 1819. He was forced to resign his commission during the insurrection of 1820–21, due to his sympathy with the rebels. Three years later, he was recalled to active service, mainly on Sardinia. Despite his liberal sympathies, he rose to the rank of General and in 1840 he was given command of the Royal School of Marines. In 1845 in collaboration with the knight and major Carlo de Candia, he created the large maritime map of Sardinia in 1: 250,000 scale, travel version.Kingdom of Sardinia 1845 Maritime Map by La Marmora & de Candia, Sardegna Cultura, Italia 2000, http://www.sardegnacultura.it/j/v/258?s=24462&v=2&c=2813&t=1 He became Governor-General of Sardinia in 1849, eventually retiring to Turin where he died age 73 on 18 March 1863. He wrote ''Viaggio in Sardegna'' (Travels in Sardinia) in 1860, which extended the study of the island previously made by

Francesco Cetti Francesco Cetti (9 August 1726 – 20 November 1778) was an Italian Jesuit priest, zoologist and mathematician. Cetti was born in Mannheim in Germany, but his parents were natives of Como. He was educated in Lombardy and at the Jesuit college ...

. Many of the animals collected by La Marmora were sent to Franco Andrea Bonelli at Turin University, and he also corresponded with Bonelli's successor,

Giuseppe Gené Carlo Giuseppe Gené (7 December 1800 – 14 July 1847) was an Italian naturalist and author. Gené was born at Turbigo in Lombardy and studied at the University of Pavia. He published a number of papers on natural history, particularly entomo ...

. The highest point of Sardinia is

Punta La Marmora Punta La Marmora ( sc, Perdas Carpìas) is a mountain in the Gennargentu range, Sardinia (Italy). Geography The mountain belongs to Ogliastra and Nuoro provinces, in the Barbagia mountain area of inner Sardinia. With its summit at an elevati ...

, commemorating the physical and geological surveys of the island Marmora conducted

References

Senato della Repubblica profile
(in Italian) *Mearns, Barbara & Richard (1988), Biographies for Birdwatchers. The Lives of Those Commemorated in Western Palearctic Bird Names. With a Foreword by Sir Peter Scott. Academic Press

External links

Sardegna Digital Library
digitised ''Viaggio in Sardegna'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Marmora, Alberto della 1789 births 1863 deaths Military personnel from Turin Italian generals Italian naturalists Italian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Scientists from Turin