Vincenzo Filonardi (23 June 1853 – 17 May 1916) was an Italian politician and soldier of the
Regio Esercito
The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...
, who was the first governor of Italian Somalia. In 1890, he was also consul of the Kingdom of Italy to
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
.
Life
In 1870 Vincenzo Filonardi was graduated as "navy captain" in
Genova
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Ge ...
.
Later, as
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Vincenzo Filonardi, he had under his command several ships between
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
the coasts of
Eastern Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
. In the 1880s he was able to create a successful shipping company between Italy and the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
.
In 1890 Filonardi had been nominated by the
Italian Prime Minister
The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the head of government of the Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is ...
Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. After Benito Mussolini, he is the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history. A pr ...
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
and ambassador of Italy at
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
.
From 3 August 1889 to 15 May 1893 Filonardi was the first
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
Italian Somaliland
Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centur ...
and was in charge of an Italian company responsible for the administration of the
Benadir territory, called ''Societa' Filonardi''.
After 3 years of "interim" in 1896, he was named again governor of the ''Somalia italiana'' for two years more. He returned to Italy after his "Societa' Filonardi" was closed and was created the ''Societa' Benadir'', from which was later politically created the
Somalia Italiana
Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centur ...
in 1905.
Filonardi moved to live in Rome in 1913, meanwhile he wrote books (like "Considerazioni sulla Somalia Italiana" and "Poche osservazioni sul mercato di Zanzibar e sull'opportunità di crearvi un consolato italiano") until his death in 1916.
Biography of Vincenzo Filonardi (in Italian)
/ref>
References
Bibliography
*L. De Courten. ''L'amministrazione coloniale italiana del Benadir. Dalle compagnie commerciali alla gestione statale (1889-1914)'', in "Storia contemporanea, IX". Roma, 1978
See also
*List of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland
This article lists the colonial governors of Italian Somaliland from 1889 to 1941. They administered the territory on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy.
Italian Somaliland
Complete list of colonial governors of Italian Somaliland:
Between 193 ...
*Somalia Italiana
Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centur ...
* Benadir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filonardi, Vincenzo
Ambassadors of Italy to Zanzibar
Governors of Italian Somaliland
Italian politicians
1853 births
1916 deaths