Alessandro Asinari di San Marzano was an Italian politician, general, and

Senator of the Kingdom of Italy The Senate of the Kingdom of Italy () was the upper house of the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, officially created on 4 March 1848, acting as an evolution of the original Subalpine Senate. It was replaced on 1 January 1948 by the ...

Biography

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 ...

on March 20, 1830 , Alessandro Asinari of San Marzano enrolled in the Turin military academy leaving it just eighteen with the rank of cavalry lieutenant. In 1848 he took part in the

First Italian War of Independence The First Italian War of Independence ( it, Prima guerra d'indipendenza italiana), part of the Italian Unification (''Risorgimento''), was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other ...

where he distinguished himself particularly in the Battle of Santa Lucia and then took part in the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

in which he was promoted to Lieutenant. In 1859 he took part in the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

, being promoted to Captain and becoming part of the General Staff after the

Battle of San Martino {{Campaignbox Austro Sardinian War In 1859, during the Italian Risorgimento – the Second Italian War of Independence, – there was another greater battle here, more commonly called the Battle of Solferino or the ''Battle of Solferino and Sa ...

where he also earned the silver medal for military valor. After the

Battle of Castelfidardo The Battle of Castelfidardo took place on 18 September 1860 at Castelfidardo, a small town in the Marche region of Italy. It was fought between the Sardinian army – acting as the driving force in the war for Italian unification, against the P ...

he was promoted to Major for war merits and then fought in the Siege of Gaeta and that of Messina where he obtained the knight's cross of the Military Order of Savoy. In 1866 after the Armistice of Villafranca and the Battle of Custoza, he obtained the cross from Officer of the Military Order of Savoy and promoted to Colonel. After taking part in the capture of Rome in 1870 , in 1877 he was promoted to Major General, then Lieutenant General in 1883 , until he obtained command of the Alexandria division . In the colonial field he was governor of Massawa in

Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea ( it, Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in ...

from 1887 to 1888 and commander in chief of the great expeditionary force sent to East Africa after the Dogali disaster

Battle of Dogali The Battle of Dogali was fought on 26 January 1887 between Italy and Ethiopia in Dogali near Massawa, in present-day Eritrea. History The Italians, after their unification in 1861, wanted to establish a colonial empire to cement their great ...

. San Marzano guided his troops with caution and successfully faced the Ethiopian army which eventually had to retreat due to logistical difficulties. He was

Italian Minister of War The Minister of War of Italy ( it, Ministri della guerra del Regno d'Italia), was the minister responsible for the Ministry of War and the Royal Italian Army. The position was abolished with the creation of the position for Minister of Defence. ...

in the Di Rudinì IV Cabinet, Di Rudinì V Cabinet and Pelloux I Cabinet. Deputy for two legislatures, he was appointed senator on January 4, 1894 but had to give it up shortly after due to poor health and advanced age. Umberto I , who had him in great esteem, appointed him his secretary in the

Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus ( it, Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro) (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 wo ...

and later

Vittorio Emanuele III Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro di Savoia; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. He also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–1941) and ...

awarded him the collar of the

Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation ( it, Ordine Supremo della Santissima Annunziata) is a Roman Catholic order of chivalry, originating in Savoy. It eventually was the pinnacle of the honours system in the Kingdom of Italy, which ce ...

. He died after a slow illness on February 16, 1906 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Awards

, Knight (1901) *

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...

, Knight (1901) *

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 later. Following the abolition of the Italian monarchy, the order became the Military Order of Italy. History The origin o ...

Medal of Military Valor The Medal of Military Valor (Italian language: ''Medaglia al valor militare'') is an Italian medal, originally established as a Sardinian award. It is awarded to military personnel, units above the level of company, and civilians for excepti ...

Maurician medal The Maurician medal is an honorary degree granted to a soldier, after 50 years of service in the Italian army (the commanding years are added afterward). This medal was established by Carlo Alberto di Savoia, on 19 July 1839 on decree of the Reg ...

* Commemorative medal for the campaigns in Africa *

Commemorative Medal of the Unity of Italy The Italian Risorgimento was celebrated by a series of medals set up by the three kings who ruled during the long process of unification - the Commemorative Medal for the Campaigns of the War of Independence and the various versions of the Commemor ...

Foreign Awards

Commemorative medal of the 1859 Italian Campaign The Commemorative medal of the 1859 Italian Campaign (french: Médaille commémorative de la campagne d'Italie de 1859) was a French commemorative medal established by Napoleon III, following the 1859 French campaign in Italy during the Second I ...

Crimea Medal The Crimea Medal was a campaign medal approved on 15 December 1854, for issue to officers and men of British units (land and naval) which fought in the Crimean War of 1854–56 against Russia. The medal was awarded with the British version of th ...

References

Bibliography

ASINARI di San Marzano, Alessandro
in ''

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' ( en, Biographical Dictionary of the Italians) is a biographical dictionary published by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1925 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biograp ...

'', vol. 4, Institute of the Italian Encyclopedia , 1962.
Alessandro Asinari di San Marzano
on ''storia.camera.it'',

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 Bourbon R ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Marzano, Alessandro Asinari di 19th-century Italian politicians Italian generals 1830 births 1906 deaths Politicians from Turin Military personnel from Turin Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor People of former Italian colonies Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Officers of the Military Order of Savoy Military personnel of the Crimean War People of the First Italian War of Independence People of the Second Italian War of Independence People of the Third Italian War of Independence Members of the Expedition of the Thousand