Ferdinando Martini (30 July 1840 – 24 April 1928) was an Italian writer and politician. He was governor of Eritrea for from late 1897 to early 1907.

Biography

Born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, he worked as journalist and writer. He collaborated with '' Il Fanfulla'' and in 1879 he founded the '' Fanfulla della domenica'' literary supplement, for which he was editor until 1882; he was also editor of ''La Domenica letteraria'' from 1882 until 1885 and professor at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

. He founded ''

Giornale per i bambini Giornale per i bambini () was an Italian weekly periodical published in the 1880s by Tipografia dei Fratelli Bencini and later Tipografia Bodoniana. It first appeared as an insert in ''Fanfulla della domenica'' in 1881, and established as an inde ...

'' in 1881 and was its editor until 1883. In 1876 he was elected to the

Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy The Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy ( it, Parlamento del Regno d'Italia) was the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established in 1861 to replace the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia and lasted until 18 June 1946, when i ...

, a position he held for 43 years. He was Minister of the Colonies in the Salandra I and Salandra II cabinets, and Minister of the Public Instruction in the first

Giolitti Giolitti is a well-known café and pastry shop, and reportedly the oldest ice cream parlor in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1890 by Giuseppe and Bernardina Giolitti and opened their first creamery in Salita del Grillo. Soon after, they became t ...

cabinet. Martini was also governor of Eritrea from 1897 to 1907, a country that received the name from him. On 1 March 1923 he was appointed to the

Senate of the Kingdom of Italy The Senate of the Kingdom of Italy () was the upper house of the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, officially created on 4 March 1848, acting as an evolution of the original Subalpine Senate. It was replaced on 1 January 1948 by the ...

. In 1925 he was one of the signers of

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...

's ''Manifesto'' of the Fascist intellectuals. In 1920 he wrote his famous literary masterpiece, about his years as governor of Eritrea:''Il Diario Eritreo''.Martini Ferdinando. "Il Diario Eritreo" (with his phot

/ref> He died at

Monsummano Terme Monsummano Terme is an ''comune'' located in the Province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in the Valdinievole, and is a popular spa resort. It is composed of two separate nuclei: Monsummano Alto, of Etruscan origins and with a c ...

in 1928.

Awards

* Cavaliere dell' ''Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro'' * Commendatore dell' ''Ordine della Corona d'Italia'' * Cavaliere dell' ''Ordine Civile di Savoia''

Literary Works

*''Chi sa il gioco non l'insegni. Proverbio in un atto in versi'', Pisa, 1871 *''Ad una donna. Versi'', Venezia, Visentini, 1872 *''Il primo passo e' quello dell' uscio''. Milano, 1874. *''Fra un sigaro e l'altro: chiacchiere di Fantasio'', Milano, G. Brigola, 1876 *''Cose africane, da Saati ad Abba Carima, discorsi e scritti'', Milano, F.lli Treves, 1896 *''Confessioni e ricordi'', Firenze, Bemporad, 1922 (e successive edizioni) *''Lettere (1860-1928)'', Milano, Mondadori, 1934 *''Nell'Affrica italiana'', Milano, Treves, 1891 *''Il Quarantotto in Toscana''. Firenze, Bemporad, 1918. * ''Il Diario Eritreo''. Roma. Vallecchi editore. 1920. *''A Pieriposa, novella antica''. Milano, Treves, 1923.

Notes

Sources

*Piero Buscioni. ''A Ferdinando Martini nel centenario della nascita''. Monsummano Terme, 1941

External links