Raffaele Rubattino (10 October 1810, Genoa – 2 November 1881) was an Italian entrepreneur and colonialist who started a shipping company that ran merchant ships on the routes to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. He was also a founder of the Italian navy

Biography

Raffaele Rubattino was born in Genoa on 10 October 1810 in a family of business people. He started a transport business in 1833 between Genoa and Milan and then merged it with the business of Gavino and Lazzaro Rebizzo. In 1843 he began a steamboat service in the Mediterranean with two small vessels, ''Castore'' and ''Polluce''. The latter collided with the ''Mongebella''. He then built larger ships: ''Cagliari'', ''Piemonte'', and ''Lombardo''. The latter two carried Garibaldi and his men to Marsala in 1860. His company formed an agreement in 1881 with the Sicilian shipping company of

Vincenzo Florio Vincenzo Florio Jr. (18 March 1883 – 6 January 1959) was an Italian entrepreneur, heir of the rich Florio entrepreneurial dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century.Navigazione Generale Italiana Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) was an Italian shipping company. History The company formed in 1881 by the merger of '' I & V. Florio'' of Palermo and ''Raffaele Rubattino'' of Genoa. At the time of the merger, the two companies both operate ...

. Rubattino was politically active and used his business to advance many causes. He was a patriot and supported

Nino Bixio Gerolamo "Nino" Bixio (, ; 2 October 1821 – 16 December 1873) was an Italian general, patriot and politician, one of the most prominent figures in the Italian unification. Life and career He was born Gerolamo Bixio in Genoa. While still a boy, ...

in 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 ...

. In 1869, Rubattino saw the value of the Suez canal and bought the Bay of

Assab Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea. Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar, Tigrinya, and Arabic. Assab is known for its large market, beaches an ...

from a local ruler through

Giuseppe Sapeto Giuseppe Sapeto (1811-24 August 1895) was a member of the Order of San Lazaro who traveled the shores of the Red Sea and was one of the proponents of Italian colonial expansionism. Life and career Sapeto was born in 1811 in Carcare, Genoa. I ...

. Initially only meant to be a coal depot, this aided Italian colonialism in

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

and the establishment of

Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea ( it, Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in ...

by the sale of the land to the Italian state in 1882. On November 2, 1881, Rubattino died from a malarial fever. He is buried at Staglieno and a statue by

Augusto Rivalta Augusto Rivalta (1835 or 1838 – April 14, 1925) was an Italian sculptor. Biography Rivalta was born in Alessandria, Italy, to Genoese parents. In 1859, he moved to Florence, but soon swept up in the patriotic events, he volunteered for the ...

stands at Piazza Caricamento in Genoa.

References

External links

Biography (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubattino, Raffaele 1810 births 1881 deaths Italian businesspeople