Giovanni Bovio (6 February 1837 – 15 April 1903) was an Italian

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and a

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, a ...

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 histo ...

. Bovio was born in

Trani Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, in southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. History Overview The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the fir ...

. He was a member of the

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 ...

of the Parliament of 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 ...

. He wrote a philosophical work in 1864 called ''Il Verbo Novello''. He was involved in setting up the radical movement " Fascio della democrazia" in 1883. In 1895 he founded the Italian Republican Party. A plaque on the house on Piazza Giovanni Bovio number 38 recalls his death in that house:

''In this house died, poor and uncontaminated Giovanni Bovio, who by meditating with free spirit the infinite and consecrating the reasons of the peoples in adamantine pages, revived with great splendor Italian thought and was a prescient seer of the new age. U Buccini 1905''

Bovio was a Freemason initiated to the 33rd degree of the

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the Sco ...

, after having joined the lodge ''

Caprera Caprera is an island in the Maddalena archipelago off the coast of Sardinia, Italy. In the area of La Maddalena island in the Strait of Bonifacio, it is a tourist destination and the place to which Giuseppe Garibaldi retired from 1854 until his ...

'' of

in 1863.Ferdinando Cordova (2011), ''Massoneria e Politica in Italia, 1892-1908'', Carte Scoperte, Milan, p. 42. His grandfather Francesco Bovio was also a Freemason.

Ancestors and descendants of Giovanni Bovio

* Francesco Maria Bovio (1750s - 1830) - Giovanni Bovio's grandfather - professor of law, Latin, Ancient Greek and literature at ''Regie Scuole'' of Matera and of the University of Altamura. He was also judge and a Freemason, member of the masonic lodge ''Oriente di Altamura''. Moreover, he fought for the

Parthenopean Republic The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the ...

, by joining in the so-called

Altamuran Revolution The Altamuran Revolution ( it, Rivoluzione di Altamura, also ''Rivoluzione altamurana'') was a three-month period of self-government of Italian town Altamura, right after the birth of the Parthenopean Republic (23 January 1799) which ousted the Bo ...

(1799) * Nicola Bovio - Giovanni Bovio's father * Scipione Bovio - Giovanni Bovio's uncle * Corso Bovio - Giovanni Bovio's son *

Libero Bovio Libero Bovio (9 June 1883 – 26 May 1942) was a Neapolitan lyricist and dialect poet. Bovio was one of those responsible for the rejuvenation of Neapolitan dialect in plays, poetry and song at the beginning of the twentieth century. He took o ...

- Giovanni Bovio's son - poet e musician * Giovanni Bovio (... - 1970s) - Giovanni Bovio's grandson - lawyer * Libero Corso Bovio (1948-2007) - Giovanni Bovio's great-grandson - lawyer, journalist and professor

References

Ancestors and descendants of Giovanni Bovio

See also

References