Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
Carlo Sforza (24 January 1872 – 4 September 1952) was an Italian
diplomat and
anti-fascist politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
.
Life and career
Sforza was born at
Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
Lucca is known as one ...
, the second son of
Count Giovanni Sforza (1846-1922), an archivist and noted historian from
Montignoso
Montignoso is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about southeast of Massa.
Montignoso borders the following municipalities: Forte dei Marmi, M ...
,
Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
, population_note =
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, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Citizenship
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 = Italian
, demogra ...
, and Elisabetta Pierantoni, born in a family of rich silk merchants. His father was a descendant of the Counts of
Castel San Giovanni
Castel San Giovanni ( Piacentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
History
The origins of the town are probably related to an ancient '' pieve'' called ''Olubra'' and a fortress called ''Castellus ...
, an illegitimate branch of the
House of Sforza who had ruled the
Duchy of Milan in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. At the death of his older brother in 1936, Carlo inherited the hereditary title of
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
granted to their father in 1910.
The Count was a member of the ancient Sforza dynasty, descendant from a branch of the Dukes of Milan, and related to the Pallavicini family as well as other Italian families such as the Medici and Orsini. His wife Valentina Errembault de Dudzeele (1875 - 1969) was from an old and noble Belgian family.
After graduating in law from the
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe.
History
The Origins
The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...
, Sforza entered the diplomatic service in 1896. He served as consular
attaché
In diplomacy, an attaché is a person who is assigned ("to be attached") to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency. Although a loanword from French, in English the word is not modified accord ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
(1896) and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
(1897), then as consular secretary in
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
(1901) and
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. He was then appointed
chargé d'affaires in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
in 1905, but a diplomatic incident caused him to resign in December of the same year. Nevertheless, he was sent as private secretary of
Marquis Emilio Visconti-Venosta, the Italian delegate to the
Algeciras Conference.
Visconti-Venosta's recommendation earned him the post of first secretary of legation in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
(1906-1907), before being sent as chargé d'affaires in Constantinople (1908-1909) where he witnessed the
Young Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Consti ...
. Counsellor of Embassy at
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1909, he then made his first experience of government as cabinet secretary of the Italian foreign minister for some months in the
Fortis cabinet. From 1911 to 1915, he was sent back to
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
where he witnessed the
collapse of the Chinese Empire and renegotiated the statute of the
Italian concession of Tientsin
The Italian concession of Tianjin (, it, Concessione italiana di Tientsin) was a small territory (concession (territory), concession) in central Tianjin (formerly romanized as Tientsin), China, controlled by the Kingdom of Italy between 1901 a ...
with the new Chinese authorities.
Sforza was in favour of an
Italian intervention in the First World War on the side of the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
. From 1915 to 1919, he was sent as ambassador in
Corfu to the exiled
Serbian government. After the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
he became Italian foreign minister under
Giovanni Giolitti. In 1921 Sforza upset nationalist right-wing forces by signing the
Rapallo Treaty which recognised the important port of
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
as a
free city. As minister of Foreign Affairs he was instrumental in breaking the proto-fascist feud led by poet
Gabriele D'Annunzio in Fiume. He remained foreign minister until the fall of the Giolitti cabinet on 4 July 1921.
Sforza was appointed ambassador to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in February 1922 but resigned from office nine months later on 31 October after
Benito Mussolini had gained power. He led the anti-fascist opposition in the Senate until being forced into exile in 1926. While living in exile in Belgium, the native country of his wife, Sforza published the books, ''European Dictatorships'', ''Contemporary Italy'', or ''Synthesis of Europe'', as well as many articles where he analysed the fascist ideology and attacked its many well-wishers as well as different "appeasers" in England, France and elsewhere. After the murder in France in 1937 of Carlo Rosselli, leader of the Giustizia e Libertà movement (non-marxist left), Count Sforza became the de facto leader of Italian antifascism in exile.
Sforza lived in Belgium and France until the German occupation in June 1940. He then settled in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
where he lived until moving on to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, where he joined the antifascist
Mazzini Society The Mazzini Society was an antifascist political association, formed on a democratic and republican basis, situating itself within the tradition of the Risorgimento, and created in the United States by Italian-American immigrants in the late 1930s. ...
. Attending the Italian-American Congress in
Montevideo, Uruguay, in August 1942, he presented an eight-point agenda for establishment of an Italian liberal democratic republic within the
Atlantic Charter. The conference approved Sforza's agenda and acclaimed him "spiritual head of the Italian antifascists."
After the
surrender
Surrender may refer to:
* Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy
* Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power
Film and television
* ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...
in September 1943, he returned to his country and in June 1944 he accepted the offer of
Ivanoe Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi (18 October 1873 – 20 April 1951) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1921 to 1922 and again from 1944 to 1945.
Background and earlier career
Ivanoe Bonomi was born in Mantua, I ...
to join his provisional antifascist government. Sforza in 1946 became a member of the
Italian Republican Party
The Italian Republican Party ( it, Partito Repubblicano Italiano, PRI) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Italy. Founded in 1895, the PRI is the oldest political party still active in Italy.
The PRI has old roots and a long hist ...
.
As foreign minister (1947–1951) he supported the
European Recovery Program and the settlement of
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...
. He was a convinced advocate and one of the designers of Italy's pro-European policy and with
De Gasperi he led Italy into the
Council of Europe. On 18 April 1951 he signed the Treaty instituting the
European Coal and Steel Community, making Italy one of the founder members.
Count Carlo Sforza died in Rome in 1952.
Family
On 4 March 1911 in Vienna, Sforza married a Belgian aristocrat, Countess Valentine Errembault de Dudzeele et d'Orroir (
Bern 4 March 1875 - Rome, 31 January 1969), whose father,
Count Gaston (1847-1929), was Belgian ambassador to Constantinople and later to Vienna, and whose brother, Count Gaston Errembault de Dudzeele, would marry in 1920 the
widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
of
Prince Mirko of Montenegro
Prince Mirko Dimitri Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro ( sr-Cyrl, Мирко Петровић-Његош; 17 April 1879 – 2 March 1918) was born in Cetinje, the second son of King Nicholas I of Montenegro and Milena Vukotić. Prince Mirko p ...
, himself a brother-in-law of the
King of Italy
King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...
. As a child, Countess Valentina had been educated with the twin sons of a chambermaid of her mother: they were rumored to be the illegitimate sons of her father and one of them would become the father of
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...
, creator of
Tintin
Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to:
''The Adventures of Tintin''
* ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé
** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series
** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...
.
Sforza and his wife had a daughter, Fiammetta (
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
3 October 1914 – 2002), who married Howard Scott ("a divorced father-of-two non-Catholic and penniless Englishman"), and a son, Count Sforza-Galeazzo («Sforzino») Sforza (
Corfu 6 September 1916-
Strasbourg 28 December 1977), a sculptor, for a time the lover of Argentine painter
Leonor Fini, and later Deputy Secretary General of the
Council of Europe (1968-1978). The latter first married Corinne Simon (1927-2011) and then Anne Spehner, but did not leave a son and at his death the title of Count passed to a cousin.
Carlo Sforza was also the alleged biological father of
Konstanty Jeleński
Konstanty Aleksander Jeleński (2 January 1922 - 4 May 1987) was a Polish essayist.
Biography
Konstanty Aleksander Jeleński (in French: Constantin Jelenski) was born on 2 January 1922 in Warsaw, Poland. He died on 4 May 1987 in Paris, France. At ...
.
Honors
Grand cordon of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus – December 21, 1919
Knight Grand Cross of the
Order of the Crown of Italy - February 29, 1920
Knight 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 ...
- December 21, 1920
Knight Grand Cross of the
Colonial Order of the Star of Italy
The Colonial Order of the Star of Italy ( it, Ordine coloniale della Stella d'Italia ) was founded as a colonial order of chivalry on 18 June 1914 by Italian King Victor Emmanuel III, to reward soldiers deployed to the colony of Libya. The orde ...
- November 25, 1920
[''Gazzetta Ufficiale del Regno d'Italia'' n.94, April 26, 1926, p.1702.]
Cross of Liberty for Military Leadership, Grade I
Notes
Further reading
* Liebmann, George W. ''Diplomacy between the Wars: Five Diplomats and the Shaping of the Modern World'' (London I. B. Tauris, 2008)
* Miller, Marion. "The Approaches to European Institution-Building of Carlo Sforza, Italian Foreign Minister, 1947–51." ''Building Postwar Europe'' (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 1995) pp. 55–69.
External links
Photos of Carlo Sforza in ''Immaginario Diplomatico'' - collection of historical photos of Italian Diplomatsby
Stefano Baldi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sforza, Carlo
19th-century Italian politicians
1872 births
1952 deaths
Counts of Italy
Italian nobility
People from the Province of Massa-Carrara
Carlo
Italian Republican Party politicians
Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy
Members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy
Senators of Legislature I of Italy
Politicians of Tuscany
Ambassadors of Italy to France
Ambassadors of Italy to Serbia
Exiled Italian politicians
Members of the National Council (Italy)