Vittorio "Vito" Positano, (2 October 1833 – 26 November 1886) was an Italian diplomat known for saving the Bulgarian capital city of

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

from burning during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

Biography

Positano was born in the Southern Italian city of Noicattaro, formerly Noja,

Province of Bari The Province of Bari ( it, provincia di Bari, nap, pruvincia 'e Bari, nap, label= Barese, provinge de Bare) was a province in the region of Apulia, Italy. Its capital was the city of Bari. It has an area of , and a total population of 1,594,1 ...

, then part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He held a law degree from

University of Bari The University of Bari Aldo Moro ( it, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro) is a state-supported higher education institution founded in 1925 in Bari, Apulia, in Southern Italy. The university is one of the most prestigious universities in ...

. pp. 595-596 He enlisted in the kingdom's army and was promoted to the rank of Captain for his participation in the crushing of local brigandage. After his service in the army, he joined the Bari fire brigade. According to some accounts, Positano was a follower of Giuseppe Garibaldi and participated in the Italian unification (''Risorgimento''). After the establishment of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...

in 1861, Positano joined the diplomatic branch of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome in 1863. He was at first a diplomatic agent in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...

; he later held various posts in Italian

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth c ...

s, mainly in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. He served in Corfu, Malta, Algeria and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. In 1876, he was appointed

Vice Consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in Sofia. As Joseph Gurko's forces approached the Ottoman-controlled city during the Russo-Turkish War, Positano, together with the French Vice Consul Leandre le Gay and the Austro–Hungarian Vice Consul, refused to leave Sofia, thus saving it from the planned burning by the Ottoman defending forces. After the Ottoman retreat, Positano organized armed detachments to protect the population from marauders (regular Ottoman Army

deserter Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...

bashi-bazouk A bashi-bazouk ( ota, باشی بوزوق , , , roughly "leaderless" or "disorderly") was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, raised in times of war. The army chiefly recruited Albanians and Circassians as bashi-bazouks, but recruits ...

s and

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...

) and a fire brigade to put out individual fires; this was the first fire brigade in Sofia's history. For his deeds during the war, Positano received an order from the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and was made

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of Sofia, the capital of the newly established autonomous Principality of Bulgaria. He remained Italian Vice Consul in Sofia until 1879. In 1881, Positano was sent to Damascus to serve as

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 throu ...

; in a few years he was dispatched to

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

, Japan, where he died in 1886. Streets in his native town and the Bulgarian capital Sofia have been named after Positano. The one in Sofia is particularly known for the address, 20 Positano Street, headquarters of the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Positano, Vito 1833 births 1886 deaths History of Sofia People from Bari 19th-century Italian diplomats

Biography

See also

References