Giuseppe Domenico Perrucchetti (13 July 1839 – 5 October 1916) was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
general and politician, the creator of the
Alpini corps.
He was born in
Cassano d'Adda
Cassano d'Adda (Milanese: ; Bergamasque: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, Italy, located on the right side of the Adda River. It is on the border of the Metropolitan City of Milan and the province of Ber ...
, in what is now the
province of Milan
The Province of Milan ( it, Provincia di Milano) was a province in the Lombardy region, Italy. Its capital was the city of Milan. The area of the former province is highly urbanized, with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, the third highest populat ...
in
Lombardy. He studied architecture 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 ...
, but when he was twenty, he fled from
Lombardy (at the time under Austrian domination) to enroll in the
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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army. He was a volunteer in the
Second Italian Independence War and in the 1866 war against Austria, at which point he gained a silver medal in the
Battle of Custoza and was promoted to Captain.
In 1872 Perrucchetti proposed the creation of an infantry corps specialized in mountain warfare, for the defense of the mountainous Italian border, in an article published in the Italian military journal ''Rivista Militare Italiana''. Perrucchetti drew examples from the mountain militias in the Roman age, the ''
Cacciatori delle Alpi'' brigades, and the Volontari Cadorini led by Pier Fortunato Calvi. His proposal (although not the only one in its kind) is considered to have been the basis for the foundation of the Alpini by General
Cesare Ricotti-Magnani
Cesare Francesco Ricotti Magnani (June 30, 1822 - August 4, 1917) was an Italian general who served as Minister of War of the Kingdom of Italy.
Biography
He was born at Borgolavezzaro, near Novara.
As artillery lieutenant, he distinguished himsel ...
, then-Minister of War, in the same year. Curiously, though, Perrucchetti never joined the corps, nor did he ever command it.
Perucchetti later rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, and was appointed a Senator 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 Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
; he retired in 1910. He died in 1916, when the Alpini were operating in the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Swi ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
during
World War I
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 ...
.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrucchetti, Giuseppe
1839 births
1916 deaths
People from Cassano d'Adda
Italian generals
Italian politicians