Luigi Federico Menabrea (4 September 1809 – 24 May 1896), later made 1st Count Menabrea and 1st Marquess of Valdora, was an Italian general, statesman and mathematician who served as the seventh

prime minister of Italy 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 ...

from 1867 to 1869.

Biography

Menabrea was born at

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chamb ...

, then part of the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

. He was educated at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

, where he qualified as an engineer and became a doctor of mathematics. As an officer of engineers he replaced Cavour in 1831 at the fortress of Bard. He then became professor of mechanics and construction at the military academy and at the university of Turin. Among his notable publications: ''Sketch of the

Analytical Engine The Analytical Engine was a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer designed by English mathematician and computer pioneer Charles Babbage. It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage's difference engine, which was a desig ...

Invented by

Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (; 26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage originated the concept of a digital programmable computer. Babbage is considered ...

, Esq.'' with notes by translator

Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the An ...

(1842), which described many aspects of

computer architecture In computer engineering, computer architecture is a description of the structure of a computer system made from component parts. It can sometimes be a high-level description that ignores details of the implementation. At a more detailed level, the ...

and programming.

King 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 ...

sent him in 1848 on diplomatic missions to secure the adhesion of

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label= Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and '' comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. A town, and seat o ...

and

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second m ...

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, aft ...

. He entered the Piedmontese parliament, and was attached successively to the Ministries of War and Foreign Affairs. Menabrea belonged to the right centre, and until the events of 1859 he believed in the possibility of a compromise between the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

and the state. He was major-general and commander-in-chief of the engineers in the Lombard campaign of 1859. He superintended the siege works against Peschiera, was present at Palestro and

Solferino Solferino ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a small town and municipality in the province of Mantua, Lombardy, northern Italy, approximately south of Lake Garda. It is best known as being close to the site of the Battle of Solferino on 24 June 1859, par ...

, and repaired the fortifications of some of the northern fortresses. In 1860 he became lieutenant-general and conducted the siege of Gaeta. He was appointed senator and received the title of count. Entering the Ricasoli cabinet of 1861 as minister for the navy, he held the portfolio of public works until 1864 in the succeeding Farini and Minghetti cabinets. After the war of 1866, he was chosen as Italian

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the wor ...

for the negotiation of the Treaty of Prague and for the transfer of Venetia to Italy. In October 1867, he succeeded Rattazzi in the premiership, and was called upon to deal with the difficult situation created by

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...

's invasion of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

and by the catastrophe of Mentana. Menabrea disavowed Garibaldi and instituted judicial proceedings against him; but in negotiations with the French government he protested against the retention of the temporal power by the pope and insisted on the Italian right of interference in Rome. He was in on the secret of the direct negotiations between Victor Emmanuel and

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A neph ...

in June 1869, and refused to entertain the idea of a French alliance unless Italy were allowed to occupy the Papal States, and, on occasion, Rome itself. On the eve of the assembly of the Oecumenical Council at Rome Menabrea reserved to the Italian government its right in respect of any measures directed against Italian institutions. He withdrew from seminary students in 1860 the exemption from military service which they had hitherto enjoyed. Throughout his term of office he was supported by the finance minister Count Cambray Digny, who forced through parliament the grist tax proposed by

Quintino Sella Quintino Sella (; 7 July 1827 – 14 March 1884) was an Italian politician, economist and mountaineer. Biography Sella was born at Sella di Mosso, in the Province of Biella. After studying engineering at Turin, he was sent in 1843 to study ...

, though in an altered form from the earlier proposal. After a series of changes in the cabinet, and many crises, Menabrea resigned in December 1869 on the election of a new chamber in which he did not command a majority. He was made marquis of Valdora in 1875. His successor in the premiership,

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 ...

, in order to remove him from his influential position as '' aide-de-camp'' to the king, sent him to London as ambassador, where he remained until in 1882 he replaced General Cialdini at the Paris Embassy. Ten years later he withdrew from public life, and died at Saint Capin on 24 May 1896.

Publications

* "Notions sur la machine analytique de M. Charles Babbage", ''

Bibliothèque universelle de Genève A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

,'' nouvelle série 41 (1842) p. 352–76 (23 pages). Available vi
Bibnum (fr)
**Its translation by

: "Sketch of the Analytical Engine Invented by Charles Babbage . . . with Notes by the Translator", ''

Scientific Memoirs ''Scientific Memoirs, Selected from the Transactions of Foreign Academies of science and Learned Societies and from Foreign Journals'' was a series of books edited and published by Richard Taylor (1781–1858) in London between 1837 and 1852. Af ...

, Selected from the Transactions of Foreign Academies of Science and Learned Societies'' 3 (1843): 666-731. Available online at
Fourmilab
an

'' *"Letter to the Editor of Cosmos." ''Cosmos.'' Vol. 6. 1855. pp 421–422. Published online by

Wired magazine ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fr ...

References

External links

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menabrea 1809 births 1896 deaths Politicians from Chambéry People from the Kingdom of Sardinia 19th-century Italian mathematicians Prime Ministers of Italy Foreign ministers of Italy Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Knights Commander of the Order of Saint Joseph University of Turin alumni Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Kingdom of Sardinia) Deputies of Legislature I of the Kingdom of Sardinia Deputies of Legislature III of the Kingdom of Sardinia Deputies of Legislature IV of the Kingdom of Sardinia Deputies of Legislature V of the Kingdom of Sardinia Deputies of Legislature VI of the Kingdom of Sardinia Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Sardinia Ambassadors of Italy to the United Kingdom Italian generals Italian computer scientists Military personnel from Chambéry