Onorato Caetani, XIV Duke of Sermoneta and IV Prince of Teano (18 January 1842 – 2 September 1917) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

politician from the noble

Caetani The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family, originally from the city of Gaeta, connected by some to the lineage of the lords of the Duchy of Gaeta, as well as to the patrician Gaetani of the Republic of Pisa. It pla ...

family.(In Italian) He was born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, which was then part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, to Michelangelo and Calixta Caetani (''née'' Rzewuska). He graduated in law at the University of Rome in 1863 and lived for a long time in England.

Political career

A supporter of the

Historical Right The Right group (), later called Historical Right () by historians to distinguish it from the right-wing groups of the 20th century, was an Italian conservative parliamentary group during the second half of the 19th century. After 1876, the Histo ...

party, he took a moderate position which gained the respect of both Catholics and non-Catholics. He was elected for

Velletri Velletri (; ; ) is an Italian ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring communes are Rocca di Papa, Lar ...

to the

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in March 1872 and remained there uninterruptedly until 1911, when he was appointed to the Upper House as a

Senator 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 ...

. He also served as the 8th Mayor of Rome from December 1890 to November 1892, and from March to July 1896 as Minister of Foreign Affairs 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 ...

in the Government of Rudini II.

Italian Geographical Society

Caetani was elected president of the Italian Geographical Society in 1879 in succession to

Cesare Correnti Cesare Correnti (January 3, 1815 – October 4, 1888) was an Italian revolutionary and politician. Life He was born in Milan of a poor but noble family. While employed in the public debt administration, he flooded Lombardy with revolutionary pamph ...

, the society's founder, who had been forced to resign for pursuing political objectives. He held the office until 1887, restoring the society's scientific objectives, promoting the teaching of geography in schools and organising the 3rd International Congress of Geography in Vienna in 1881.

Honours and awards

* Knight Grand Cordon of the

Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus () (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the world, tracing its lineage to AD 1098, a ...

* Commander of the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

Private life

He died in Rome,

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in 1917. In 1867, during his time in England, he had married Ada Constance Bootle-Wilbraham, daughter of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

the Hon ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...

Edward Bootle-Wilbraham (a son of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale). Their children included the Islamist

Leone Caetani Leone Caetani (September 12, 1869 – December 25, 1935), Duke of Sermoneta (also known as Prince Caetani), was an Italian scholar, politician, and historian of the Middle East. Caetani is considered a pioneer in the application of the histori ...

(1869–1935), the composer Roffredo Caetani (1871–1961) and the diplomat Gelasio Caetani (1877–1934).

References