Giuseppe Dezza (28 February 1830 – 15 May 1898) was an Italian general and patriot.

Biography

Dezza was born in

Melegnano Melegnano (formerly Marignano; lmo, Meregnan ) is a town and ''comune'' in Italy, in the province of Milan, region of Lombardy. The town lies southeast of the city of Milan. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on 2 ...

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 ...

. He was a volunteer in the First Battalion of Italian Students of the provisional Lombard government of 1848, and fought 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 ...

against the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

which broke out that year. In 1851 he graduated in Engineering and Architecture in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...

. In 1859 he again enrolled as volunteer in the

Cacciatori delle Alpi The Hunters of the Alps ( it, Cacciatori delle Alpi) were a military corps created by Giuseppe Garibaldi in Cuneo on 20 February 1859 to help the regular Sardinian army to free the northern part of Italy in the Second Italian War of Independen ...

corps, obtaining the grade of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and a Silver Medal for Military Value. In 1860 he took part to

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

Expedition of the Thousand The Expedition of the Thousand ( it, Spedizione dei Mille) was an event of the Italian Risorgimento that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto, near Genoa (now Quarto dei Mille) and landed in Ma ...

which led to the

unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century Political movement, political and social movement that resulted in the Merger (politics), consolidation of List of historic stat ...

, quickly reaching the grade of colonel. In the newly formed

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

he obtained the command of the 29th Infantry Regiment which he led in the Battle of Custoza (1866). Two years later he became

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, at the head of the Pisa Brigade. In 1872 he was King's Field Lieutenant and, in 1877, lieutenant general, being assigned as commander of the Milano Division. In 1886 Dezza was commander of the VII Army Corps, and later of the XII, VI and III Corps. In 1895 he was elected member of the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...

as deputy and, from 1889,

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. He died 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 ...

in 1898. In 1929 the Italian minesweeper “Pilade Bronzetti" was renamed after Dezza. It served in the Italian navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was captured and used by the Germans after Italy's capitulation until it was sunk by the British in 1944.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dezza, Giuseppe 1830 births 1898 deaths People from Melegnano Deputies of Legislature XIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of the Kingdom of Italy Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Politicians of Lombardy Italian generals Italian engineers Members of the Expedition of the Thousand