Francesco Restelli (5 October 1814 - 5 March 1890) was an Italian lawyer who became a patriot activist and, later, an Italian member of

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Biography

Francesco Restelli was born (and would eventually die) in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. He studied Law at the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

, though he preferred to devote himself to studying

Social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

. In 1840 he published a substantive essay in that discipline which had been written, in part, by Paolo Manio, a fellow student who had died aged just 24, leaving Restelli to finish the work. Four years later he was a participant at the Sixth Congress of Italian Scientists, which on that occasion was held in Milan. He attracted the interest of fellow delegates when he presented a detailed paper on commercial law, while highlighting contribution of industrial and commercial associations to public prosperity. For the next few years he worked as a lawyer. On 18 March 1848 he hastened to join those manning the barricades. On 20 March Restelli joined Milan's Committee of Public Security, presided over by Dr.Angelo Fava. A couple of days later Field Marshall Radetsky withdrew the Austrian army from Milan, which left the city under the control of a hastily assembled

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

. On 3 April 1848 Restelli was sent by the provisional government to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, which was under the control of its own provisional government, following Radetsky's strategic (and as matters turned out temporary) militarily withdrawal to the "Quadrilatero" forts. Restelli's mission was to foster agreement between

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

and

, while at the same time promoting the idea of a three way anti-

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

union that would also include

Sardinia-Piedmont The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

. His mission concluded on 20 July 1848 and he returned to Milan where things were moving on. The fusion of "the city and province of Venice, the Sardinian states with Lombardy" had been decreed on 4 July 1848. The move had been overwhelmingly endorsed by a popular referendum in Lombardy, but the territories of Venice - aside from the city itself - had been militarily retaken at the end of June by the Austrians. The Austrians then defeated the army of Sardinia-Piedmont at

Custoza Custoza (; vec, Custoxa ) is a northern Italian village and hamlet (''frazione'') of Sommacampagna, a municipality in the province of Verona, Veneto. As of 2011, its population was 812. History The village is famous for two battles fought dur ...

on 24/25 July 1848. The defeat was far from overwhelming, but the Sardinian king was persuaded to sign an agreement with the Austrians on 4/5 August 1848 and withdrew his armies to the western bank of the

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

. Regardless of the referendum result, a three way fusion with Piedmont and Venice was not about to happen, and in the Lombard capital the mood was one of political uncertainty. On 28 July 1848 Restelli joined Manfredo Fanti and Pietro Maestri in the Committee of Public Defence which effectively replaced the

. Once the Austrians and the Piedmontese had agreed what amounted to an armistice on 4/5 August 1848 it no longer made sense for the Milanese Committee of Public Defence to hold out against the Austrian troops, and on 6 August 1848, with Austrian forces already inside the city walls and advancing on the city centre, Francesco Restelli fled his native city, successfully making the highly journey dangerous north to

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

in the southern part of

(

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) where he arrived the next day. Pietro Maestri had also managed to escape to

where the two of them teamed up to write "Gli ultimi tristissimi fatti di Milano narrati/stampati dal Comitato di Pubblica Difesa" (''loosely, "The latest very sad facts about Milan, told/published by the Committee of Public Defence"''). They managed to get it printed in

where, still in 1848, several reprints were produced. Restelli's exile lasted for more than half a decade. He moved from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

(which at this stage, following the failure of a revolt in April 1849, was still part of

). He then relocated to

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 ...

, which was still under

control. In 1854, thanks to an amnesty agreed by the authorities, he was able to return to

. After Lombardy was liberated from Austrian control it became part of

, and in March 1860 Restelli was elected a member of

. He was re-elected to membership of the lower house (''"Chamber of deputies"'') in successive elections over the next twenty-five years. It is probably misleading to try and subdivide Sardinian/Italian members of parliament in terms of political parties, but Francesco Restelli was a member of the large group of parliamentarians generally identified, in retrospect, as the Historical Right (''"Destra storica"''). On 11 February 1863 his fellow parliamentarians elected him one of the seven vice-presidents of the "chamber of deputies": he received 120 of the 218 votes cast. In December 1866 only four parliamentary vice-presidents were elected: Restelli was one of them. In the end Francesco Restelli was elected a vice-president of the "chamber of deputies" five times during the 1860s and 1870s. On 7 June 1886 he was appointed a member of the senate. (Appointment to the senate was - at least nominally - in the gift of the king: senators remained in place till they died.)

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