Luigi, Count Cibrario (23 February 1802 in
Usseglio
Usseglio ( pms, Ussèj, frp, Usèi, french: Ussel) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northwest of Turin, on the border with France. It borders with the following munici ...
, Piedmont1 October 1870) was an Italian
statesman and historian.
Biography
Born in Usseglio, in what is now the
province of Turin, Cibrario was descended from a noble but impoverished
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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ese family. He won a scholarship at the age of sixteen, and was teaching literature at eighteen. His verses to
future king Charles Albert, then prince of
Savoy-Carignano
The House of Savoy-Carignano ( it, Savoia-Carignano; french: Savoie-Carignan) originated as a cadet branch of the House of Savoy. It was founded by Thomas Francis of Savoy, Prince of Carignano (1596–1656), an Italian military commander who was t ...
, on the birth of his son
Victor Emmanuel, attracted the prince's attention and proved the beginning of a long intimacy.
He entered the
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
n civil service, and in 1824 was appointed lecturer on
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
and
civil law. His chief interest was the study of ancient documents, and he was sent to search the archives of
Switzerland, France and Germany for charters relating to the history of
Savoy.
After the
Bourbon Restoration in 1815 the
Kingdom of Sardinia
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 ...
and the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ( la, links=no, Regnum Langobardiae et Venetiae), commonly called the "Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom" ( it, links=no, Regno Lombardo-Veneto, german: links=no, Königreich Lombardo-Venetien), was a constituent land ...
reintroduced the teaching of history in the
Italian primary school, which was firstly adopted by
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 ...
. Cibrario authored the textbook titled ''Notizie sopra la storia dei principi di Savoia date dall’avvocato Luigi Cibrario ad uso delle scuole del Regno di Sardegna''.
While the history of the
House of Savoy was used as a starting chapter point for the national
history of Italy, Cibrario derived the genealogy of the House of Savoy from the Burgudian branch
of
Gisela of Burgundy, Marchioness of Montferrat
Gisela of Burgundy (1075–1135), was a Countess consort of Savoy and a Marchioness consort of Montferrat. She was the spouse of Humbert II, Count of Savoy and later of Rainier I of Montferrat whom she married after Humbert's death. She was the d ...
and of
Roman_public_law.
During_the_Revolutions_of_1848.html" ;"title="Roman law#Roman public law">Roman public law.
During the Revolutions of 1848">Roman law#Roman public law">Roman public law.
During the Revolutions of 1848, after the expulsion of the Austrians from Venice, Cibrario was sent to that city with Colli to negotiate its union with Piedmont. But the proposal fell through when news arrived of the armistice between King Charles Albert and Austria, and the two delegates were made the objects of a hostile demonstration. In October 1848 Cibrario was made senator, and after the Battle of Novara (March 1849), when Charles Albert abdicated and retired to a monastery near Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
, Cibrario and Count Giacinto di Collegno were sent as representatives of the Senate to express the sympathy of that body with the fallen king. He reached Oporto on 28 May, and after staying there for a month returned to Turin, which he reached just before the news of Charles Albert's death.
In May 1852 he became minister of finance in the reconstructed d'Azeglio cabinet, and was later minister of education in that of Cavour. In the same year he was appointed secretary to the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus. It was he who in 1853 dictated the vigorous memorandum of protest against the confiscation by Austria of the property of Lombard exiles who had been naturalized in Piedmont. He strongly supported Cavour's Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
n policy (1855), and when General la Marmora departed in command of the expeditionary force and Cavour took the war office, Cibrario was made Minister for Foreign Affairs. He conducted the business of the department with great skill, and ably seconded Cavour in bringing about the admission of Piedmont to the Congress of Paris
The Congress of Paris is the name for a series of diplomatic meetings held in 1856 in Paris, France, to negotiate peace between the warring powers in the Crimean War that had started almost three years earlier."Paris, Treaty of (1856)". The New E ...
on an equal footing with the great powers.
On retiring from the foreign office Cibrario was created count. In 1860 he acted as mediator between Victor Emmanuel's government and the republic of San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
, and arranged a treaty by which the latter's liberties were guaranteed. After the war of 1866
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
by which Austria lost Venetia, Cibrario negotiated with that government for the restitution of state papers and art treasures removed by it from Lombardy and Venetia to Vienna.
Count Cibrario died near Salò
Salò (; la, Salodium) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the seat of government of the Italian Socia ...
on Lake Garda
Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label= Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy.
It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...
in autumn 1870.
Works
As a writer and historian, his most important work during his lifetime was his ''Economia politica del medio evo'' (Turin, 1839), which enjoyed great popularity at the time, but is now of little value. His ''Della schiavitù e del servaggio'' (Milan, 1868–1869) gave an account of the development and abolition of slavery and serfdom. His historical writings include:
* ''Delle artiglierie dal 1300 al 1700'' (1847)
* ''Origini e progresso della monarchia di Savoia'' (1854)
* ''Degli ordini cavallereschi'' (1846)
* ''Degli ordini religiosi'' (1845)
* ''Memorie segrete'' of Charles Albert
Charles Albert (; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the King of Sardinia from 27 April 1831 until 23 March 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Albertine Statute, and with the First Italian War of Independenc ...
, written by order of Victor Emmanuel but afterwards withdrawn.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cibrario, Luigi
1802 births
1870 deaths
People from the Province of Turin
Italian politicians
Knights of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus