Giuseppe ("Joseph") Lechi (5 December 1766 – 9 August 1836) was an Italian general in the Kingdom of Italy during the Napoleonic Wars.

Biography

Born in Aspes and being the first son of Faustino Lechi and his wife Doralice Bielli, the general Giuseppe Lechi was already considered a man of great light and shadows ("dark and gloomy"), reckless and unscrupulous similar to his uncle the Count

Galliano Lechi Galliano may refer to: * Galliano (liqueur), a liqueur * Galliano (surname) * Galliano (band), 1980s–1990s UK acid jazz/jazz funk/dance band *Galliano, a subdivision of Cantù, Italy *Galliano, Louisiana, United States * Banco Galliano, also Gal ...

, who was very dear, and a model, to Giuseppe. His grandfather Pietro was a famous

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and a follower of the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

. Born a subject of the

Most Serene Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, he undertook the military career in the Austrian army up to the rank of captain. On the arrival of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in Italy, influenced also by his brother Giacomo, Giuseppe organized with his other brothers Teodoro and

Angelo Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...

and other friends – all of them members of the "Casino dei Buoni Amici" free-masonnic secret society – the Bresciana revolution of 18 March 1797. Giuseppe entered the temporary government of Brescia and organized the Brescian Legion that General Bonaparte sent to fighting in Emilia, Marche and then in Central Italy. It was in Città di Castello, in 1798, that happened the famous episode of the discussed donation of Raphael's painting " The Marriage of the Virgin" to Giuseppe Lechi by the City Council. In the spring of 1799 Giuseppe Lechi with his unit was engaged in a military campaign in Valtellina attempting to curb an anti-French revolt. Forced to retreat by the Austro-Russians, he joined the

Italian Legion The Uruguayan Civil War, also known in Spanish as the ''Guerra Grande'' ("Great War"), was a series of armed conflicts between the leaders of Uruguayan independence. While officially the war lasted from 1839 until 1851, it was a part of armed co ...

of General

Pietro Teulié Pietro Teulié (3 February 1769 – 18 June 1807) was an Italian general who served in the Kingdom of Italy during the Napoleonic Wars. He was killed during the siege of the Prussian fortress of Kolberg. Biography He was born in Milan, the s ...

in Dijon. Back in Italy with Napoleon he fought at Marengo (14 June 1800) where he was promoted to the rank of

division general Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corp ...

on the field itself. After the

Peace of Lunéville Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

(9 February 1801) he became commander of division under Joachim Murat and one of his friends, followers and advisors. In the same time, Giuseppe entered the new legislative body of the Italian Republic. More and more bound up with the "Murat's circle", General Lechi joined the Masonry of the Scottish Rite (becoming in the follow the Great Master of the Grand Lodge of Naples) and those groups of patriots who supported the ideal of the

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

. In 1804, Giuseppe Lechi participated in the conquest of the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

fighting in the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...

regions under general Saint-Cyr. In 1805 he was again in Naples with Murat and Joseph Bonaparte, to whom too he would become closely tied by friendship and personal fidelity. In the years 1808 and 1809 Lechi was in Spain at the service of Joseph Bonaparte that has yielded away in the meantime the Kingdom of Naples to Murat; Joseph conquered the city of Barcelona and becomes temporarily the governor there. In 1809 he faced a trial in France (apparently for claims of violence, embezzlement and abuse) but escaped the judgment and was sent back to Naples at the service of his friend, the new king, Joachim Murat. Lechi was also involved in the conspiracies of general

Domenico Pino Domenico ("Dominique") Pino (Milan, 8 September 1760 – Cernobbio, 29 March 1826) was an Italian soldier. He served as General of Division in the Kingdom of Italy and in Napoleon's Grande Armée. Biography Pino was born in Milan, to Francesco ...

, probably also as a link for Murat himself in the plot. On 31 January 1814, Giuseppe was governor of Tuscany handing over

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

to the English Fleet in an attempt made by Murat to bargain a separate peace with Austria. In 1815 "Joseph" Lechi was as always at Murat's side in his last and hopeless stand against the Austrians at the Battle of Tolentino (2–3 May 1815). As a prisoner of war, Lechi refused to swear any fidelity to the new Habsburgic regime and remained jailed in Lubiana till 1818. Freed, Lechi settled down in his family's Villa of

Montirone Montirone (Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it ...

near Brescia and married Eleonora, daughter of

Joseph Jérôme, Comte Siméon Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

. He then died of cholera in 1836 in Montirone.

Notes

External links

* http://www.storiadimilano.it/Personaggi/Milanesi%20illustri/personaggi_avventurosi.htm
Istituto Storico delle ''Insorgenze'', L'insurrezione di Brescia
* Paolo Martinucci: "PREMESSE STORICHE E CULTURALI DELL’INSORGENZA NEL BERGAMASCO E NEL BRESCIANO", http://www.identitanazionale.it/inso_1002.php {{DEFAULTSORT:Lechi, Giuseppe 1766 births 1836 deaths 18th-century Italian people Deaths from cholera Italian commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Italian Freemasons Italian generals Italian military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People of the Kingdom of Naples (Napoleonic)