Quintino Sella (; 7 July 1827 – 14 March 1884) was an Italian

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 ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and mountaineer.

Biography

Sella was born at Sella di Mosso, in the

Province of Biella The Province of Biella ( it, Provincia di Biella, Piedmontese: ''Provincia ëd Biela'') is a province of Italy located in Piedmont. It was created in 1992 and its capital is the city of Biella. It has an area of , and a total population of 17 ...

. After studying

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, he was sent in 1843 to study mineralogy at the Parisian school of mines (

Mines ParisTech Mines Paris - PSL, officially École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris (until May 2022 Mines ParisTech, also known as École des mines de Paris, ENSMP, Mines de Paris, les Mines, or Paris School of Mines), is a French grande école and a ...

). In

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

he witnessed the

revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

, and only returned to Turin in 1852, when he taught applied

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

at the technical institute. In 1853 he became professor of mathematics at the university, and in 1860

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of mineralogy in the school of applied engineering. In 1860 he was elected deputy for

Cossato Cossato is a ''municipality'' in the province of Biella, Italy, in the northwest part of Piedmont, east of Biella. It has a population of about 14,804 and it spreads over an area of 27,74 km², which makes it the second largest town in the Pr ...

. A two years later he was selected to be secretary-general of public instruction, and in 1862 received from Rattazzi the portfolio of finance. The Rattazzi cabinet fell before Sella could efficaciously provide for the deficit of 17,500,000 with which he was confronted; but in 1864 he returned to the ministry of finance in the La Marmora cabinet, and dealt energetically with the deficit of 8,000,000 then existing. Persuading the king to forgo 120,000 of his civil list, and his colleagues in the cabinet to relinquish part of their ministerial stipends, he effected savings amounting to 2,400,000, proposed new taxation to the extent of 1,600,000, and induced landowners to pay one year's instalment of the land tax in advance. A vote of the chamber compelled him to resign before his preparations for financial restoration were complete; but in 1869 he returned to the ministry of finance in a cabinet formed by himself, but of which he made over the premiership to

Giovanni Lanza Domenico Giovanni Giuseppe Maria Lanza (15 February 1810 9 March 1882) was an Italian politician and the eighth prime minister of Italy from 1869 to 1873. Biography Lanza was born in the Piedmontese city of Casale Monferrato. He studied medicin ...

. By means of the grist tax (which he had proposed in 1865, but which the Menabrea cabinet had passed in 1868), and by other fiscal expedients necessitated by the almost desperate condition of the national exchequer, he succeeded, before his fall from power in 1873, in placing Italian finance upon a sound footing, in spite of fierce attacks and persistent misrepresentation. In 1870 his great political influence turned the scale against interference in favour of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

against

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, and in favour of an immediate occupation of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. From 1873 until his premature death, he acted as leader of the Right (''Destra Storica''), and was more than once prevented by an ephemeral coalition of personal opponents from returning to power as head of a Moderate Conservative cabinet. After the failure of an attempt to form a cabinet in May 1881 he practically retired from public life, devoting himself to his studies and his linen factory. Quintino Sella died in 1884 and was buried at

Oropa Oropa is a ''frazione'' of the municipality of Biella, in Piedmont, northern Italy. It is famous for the Black Virgin of Oropa. Her statue is located in the Sanctuary of Oropa, the basilica of the Sacro Monte di Oropa, one of the Sacri Monti. I ...

where a pyramid was erected by the engineer Carlo Maggia as his monument; the implied anti-clericalism of this choice of an ‘Egyptian’ style matched Sella's rôle in the occupation of Rome. A passionate alpinist, he had found time during his political career to found the Club Alpino Italiano and a number of its

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization ...

s are named in his honour. He was also involved in the competition for the

first ascent of the Matterhorn The first ascent of the Matterhorn was a mountaineering expedition made by Edward Whymper, Lord Francis Douglas, Charles Hudson, Douglas Hadow, Michel Croz, and two Zermatt guides, Peter Taugwalder and his son of the same name, on 14 July 18 ...

and he was portrayed in several related films such as '' The Mountain Calls'' and '' The Challenge''. His ''Discorsi parlamentari'' were published (5 vols., 1887–1890) by order of the Chamber of Deputies. An account of his life and his scientific labours was given by A Cossa in the ''Proceedings of the Accademia dei Lincei'' (1884–1885). The mineral

sellaite Sellaite is a magnesium fluoride mineral with the formula MgF2. It crystallizes in the tetragonal crystal system, typically as clear to white vitreous prisms. It may be fibrous and occur as radiating aggregates. It has a Mohs hardness of 5 to 6 ...

was named in his honor in 1869.

Gallery

File:Quintino Sella2.jpg, Quintino Sella in the early 1860s. File:Quintino Sella 01.jpg, Quintino Sella in an official portrait. File:Facciata del rifugio Quintino Sella al Monviso.jpg, A

Monte Viso Monte Viso or Monviso (; oc, Vísol; Piedmontese: ''Brich Monviso'' or ''Viso'') is the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps. It is located in Italy close to the French border. Monte Viso is well known for its pyramid-like shape and, because it i ...

was named in honour to him.

References

External links

Biography

Gallery

See also

References

External links