Ercole Ricotti (12 October 1816 – 24 February 1883) was an Italian politician and historian.
Biography
He was born at
Voghera
The Castle of Voghera in a 19th-century etching.
Voghera ( Vogherese dialect of Emilian: ''Vughera''; Latin: ''Forum Iulii Iriensium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy. The population was 39,374 ...
and in 1833 he moved to
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 ...
, where he frequented the Faculty of Engineering. In 1840 he became a member of the
Academy of Sciences in Turin.
In 1846 he was appointed as professor of Military History (later renamed Modern History) in the
University of Turin
The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...
. 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 ...
, during which he was taken prisoner by the
Austrians
, pop = 8–8.5 million
, regions = 7,427,759
, region1 =
, pop1 = 684,184
, ref1 =
, region2 =
, pop2 = 345,620
, ref2 =
, region3 =
, pop3 = 197,990
, ref3 ...
.
He was named to the
Italian Senate
The Senate of the Republic ( it, Senato della Repubblica), or simply the Senate ( it, Senato), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Chamber of Deputies). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral sy ...
from 1862 until his death. He was also Rector of the University of Turin and member of the National Council of Instruction in the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, which had been created in 1861. In 1861-1869 he published a ''Storia della Monarchia Piemontese'' ("History of the
Piedmontese Monarchy"), at
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, in six volumes. His other works includes studies on the
condottieri
''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europ ...
, a ''Breve storia della Costituzione inglese'' ("Brief History of the English Constitution", 1871) and the posthumous ''La Rivoluzione Francese dell'anno 1789'' ("The French Revolution of 1789", 1888).
He died at
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 ...
in 1883.
External links
Page at Torinoscienza website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ricotti, Ettore
1816 births
1883 deaths
People from Voghera
19th-century Italian historians
Engineers from Turin
Italian politicians
Italian military historians