Clemente Solaro, Count della Margherita (21 November 1792 in

Mondovì Mondovì (; , ) is a town and ''comune'' (township) in Piedmont, northern Italy, about from Turin. The area around it is known as the Monregalese. The town, located on the Monte Regale hill, is divided into several '' rioni'' (ancient quart ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

– 12 November 1869 in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

) was a

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

ese statesman.

Biography

Clemente Solaro studied law at

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

and

, but Piedmont was at that time under French domination, and being devoted to the

house of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

he refused to take his degree, as this proceeding would have obliged him to recognize the authority of the usurper; after the restoration of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

, however, he graduated. In 1816 he entered the diplomatic service. Later he returned to Turin, and succeeded in gaining the confidence and esteem of King Charles Albert, who in 1835 appointed him minister of foreign affairs. A fervent

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, devoted to the pope and to the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, friendly to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and firmly attached to the principles of

autocracy Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...

, he strongly opposed every attempt at political innovation, and was in consequence bitterly hated by the liberals. When the popular agitation in favor of constitutional reform first broke out the king felt obliged to dispense with La Margherita's services, although he had conducted public affairs with considerable ability and absolute loyalty, even upholding the dignity of the kingdom in the face of the arrogant attitude of the cabinet of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He expounded his political creed and his policy as minister to Charles Albert (from February 1835 to October 1847) in his ''Memorandum storico-politico'', published in 1851, a document of great interest for the study of the conditions of Piedmont and

at that time. In 1853 he was elected deputy for San Quirico, but he persisted in regarding his mandate as derived from the royal authority rather than as an emanation of the popular will. As leader of the Clerical Right in the parliament he strongly opposed Cavour's policy, which was eventually to lead to

Italian unity The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of S ...

, and on the establishment of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

he retired from public life.

Works

* ''L'uomo di stato indirizzato al governo della cosa pubblica'' (Turin, 1863-64). * ''Memorandum storico''-''politico'' (Turin, 1851). * ''Appendice al Memorandum storico-politico'' (Turin, 1852). * ''Journal historique du siège de la ville et de la citadelle de Turin en 1706'' (Turin, 1838). * ''Traités de la Maison de Savoie''... ''depuis la paix de Cateau''-''Cumbrésis jusqu'à nos jours'' (Turin, 1836-1861, 8 vols.).

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solaro, Clemente, Count La Margherita Solaro, Clemente, Count della Margherita People from Mondovì Solaro, Clemente, Count Del La Margherita Solaro, Clemente, Count Del La Margherita University of Turin alumni People from the Kingdom of Sardinia