Antonio Starrabba (or Starabba), Marquess of Rudinì (16 April 18397 August 1908) was an Italian statesman,

Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republic. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the Co ...

between 1891 and 1892 and from 1896 until 1898.

Biography

Early life and patriotic activities

He was born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

(then part of the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

) into an

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

ic Sicilian family.Sarti, ''Italy: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present''
pp. 534-35
/ref> However, his family was of a more cultured, liberal disposition than many of their contemporaries. In 1859, he joined the revolutionary committee which paved the way for

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

's triumphs in the following year. After spending a short time in Turin as attaché to the Italian foreign office, he was elected

mayor of Palermo The mayor of Palermo is an elected politician who, along with the Palermo's city council, is accountable for the strategic government of Palermo in Sicily, Italy. The current mayor is Roberto Lagalla, who took office on 20 June 2022. Overview ...

. In 1866, he displayed considerable personal courage and energy in quelling an insurrection of separatist and reactionary tendencies. The prestige thus acquired led to his appointment as prefect of Palermo. It was while occupying that position that he put down brigandage throughout the province. In 1868, he was prefect of Naples. In October 1869 he became minister of the interior in the Menabrea cabinet. The cabinet fell a few months later, and although Starabba was an elected member of parliament for

Canicattì Canicattì (; ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about east of Agrigento. In 2024, it had a population of 34,295. History The archa ...

, he held no important position until, upon the death of

Marco Minghetti Marco Minghetti (18 November 1818 – 10 December 1886) was an Italian economist and statesman. Biography Minghetti was born in Bologna, then part of the Papal States. With Antonio Montanan and Rodolfo Audinot he founded at Bologna a pape ...

in 1886, he became leader of the Right.

Political career and premierships

Early in 1891, he succeeded

Francesco Crispi Francesco Crispi (4 October 1818 – 11 August 1901) was an Italian patriot and statesman. He was among the main protagonists of the Risorgimento, a close friend and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and one of the architect ...

as premier and minister of foreign affairs, forming a coalition cabinet with a part of the Left under Giovanni Nicotera. His administration proved vacillating, but it initiated the economic reforms by virtue of which Italian finances were put on a sound basis and also renewed the Triple Alliance. He was overthrown in May 1892 by a vote of the Chamber and was succeeded by

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. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister in Italian history, and the sec ...

. Upon the return of his rival, Crispi, to power in December 1893, he resumed political activity, allying himself with the Radical leader,

Felice Cavallotti Felice Cavallotti (6 November 1842 – 6 March 1898) was an Italian politician, poet and dramatic author. Biography Early career Born in Milan, Cavallotti fought with the Hunters of the Alps, Garibaldian Corps in their 1860 and 1866 campaign ...

. The crisis resulting from the disastrous battle of Adowa enabled Rudinì to return to power as premier and minister of the interior in a cabinet formed by the veteran Conservative, General Ricotti. He signed the

Treaty of Addis Ababa The Treaty of Addis Ababa, signed on 23 October 1896, formally ended the First Italo-Ethiopian War on terms mostly favourable to Ethiopia. This treaty superseded a secret agreement between Ethiopia and Italy negotiated days after the decisive ...

that formally ended the

First Italo–Ethiopian War The First Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the First Italo-Abyssinian War, or simply known as the Abyssinian War in Italy (), was a military confrontation fought between Kingdom of Italy, Italy and Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia from 1895 to ...

recognizing

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

as an independent country. He endangered relations with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

by the unauthorized publication of confidential diplomatic correspondence in a Green-book on Abyssinian affairs. Di Rudinì recognized the excessive brutality of the repression of the

Fasci Siciliani The Fasci Siciliani (), short for Fasci Siciliani dei Lavoratori ('Sicilian Workers Leagues'), were a popular movement of Democracy, democratic and socialist inspiration that arose in Sicily in the years between 1889 and 1894. The Fasci gained ...

under his predecessor Crispi. Many Fasci members were pardoned and released from jail. He made it clear though that a reorganization of the Fasci would not be tolerated. Di Rudini's minister of the treasury

Luigi Luzzatti Luigi Luzzatti (; 11 March 1841 – 29 March 1927) was an Italian financier, political economist, social philosopher, and jurist. He served as the 20th prime minister of Italy between 1910 and 1911. Luzzatti came from a wealthy and cultured Jew ...

passed two measures of social legislation in 1898. The industrial workmen's compensation scheme from 1883 was made obligatory with the employer bearing all costs, and a voluntary fund for contributory disability and old age pensions was created.Seton-Watson, ''Italy from liberalism to fascism'', pp. 185-86 To satisfy the anti-colonial party, he ceded

Kassala Kassala (, ) is the capital of the state of Kassala (state), Kassala in eastern Sudan. In 2003 its population was recorded to be 530,950. Built on the banks of the Mareb River, Gash River, it is a market city and is famous for its fruit gardens. ...

to Great Britain, thereby provoking much indignation in Italy. His internal policy was marked by continual yielding to Radical pressure and by the persecution of Crispi. During his second term of office, he thrice modified his cabinet (July 1896, December 1897, and May 1898) without strengthening his political position. By dissolving the Chamber early in 1897 and favouring Radical candidates in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, he paved the way for the outbreak of popular uprisings about rising prices in May 1898. Rudinì declared the state of siege at Naples, Florence, Livorno and Milan, and the suppression of the riot resulted in a bloodshed in Milan. Indignation at the results of his policy left him without the support of both the Left – who blamed him for the bloodshed – and the Right – who blamed him for the permissiveness that allegedly had promoted the uprisings and led to his overthrow in June 1898.

Death and legacy

Di Rudinì retained his seat in Parliament until his death in 1908. Has reputed to be a thorough gentleman and ''grand seigneur''. One of the largest and wealthiest landowners in Sicily, he managed his estates on liberal lines and was never troubled by agrarian disturbances. The marquis, who had not been in office since 1898, died at Rome in August 1908, leaving a son, Carlo, who married a daughter of

Henry Labouchère Henry Du Pré Labouchère (9 November 1831 – 15 January 1912) was an English politician, writer, publisher and theatre owner in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He is now most remembered for the Labouchère Amendment, which for the first ...

. In many respects Rudinì, though leader of the Right and nominally a Conservative politician, proved a dissolving element in the Italian Conservative ranks. By his alliance with the Liberals under Nicotera in 1891, and by his understanding with the Radicals under Cavallotti in 1894-1898; by abandoning his Conservative colleague, General Ricotti, to whom he owed the premiership in 1896; and by his vacillating action after his fall from power, he divided and demoralized a constitutional party which, with more sincerity and less reliance upon political cleverness, he might have welded into a solid parliamentary organization. Many books have been written about his life, including ''La settimana dell'anarchia del 1866 a Palermo'' by Gaspare di Mercurio.

List of Rudinì's cabinets

1st cabinet (6 February 1891 15 May 1892)

2nd cabinet (10 March 1896 15 July 1896)

3rd cabinet (15 July 1896 14 December 1897)

Changes: * On 18 September 1897, Giovanni Codronchi became Minister of Public Education, substituting Emanuele Gianturco

4th cabinet (14 December 1897 1 June 1898)

5th cabinet (1 June 1898 29 June 1898)

Orders and decorations

* : Knight of the

Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation The Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation () is a Catholic order of chivalry, originating in County of Savoy, Savoy. It eventually was the pinnacle of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Italy#The Kingdom of Italy, honours system in the ...

, ''23 October 1896'' *

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

: Knight of the

Order of the Black Eagle The Order of the Black Eagle () was the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order was founded on 17 January 1701 by Elector Friedrich III of Brandenburg (who became Friedrich I of Prussia, Friedrich I, King in Prussia, the ...

, ''3 February 1892''

References