istituto comprensivo chiaromonte “santa lucia”

ISTITUTO COMPRENSIVO CHIAROMONTE “SANTA LUCIA”
SCUOLA SECONDARIA DI I GRADO
CARBONE A.S.2010-2011
Classi I-II-III
Prefazione
In occasione del 150° anniversario dell’Unità d’Italia gli alunni della Scuola secondaria di I
grado di Carbone hanno voluto realizzare un cd, che mettesse in evidenza il ruolo decisivo di
molti patrioti lucani durante il Risorgimento. Essi mostrarono una notevole capacità di
iniziativa, culminata nell’ insurrezione di agosto del 1860, che segnò la fine del regno
borbonico, ancor prima dell’arrivo di Garibaldi in Calabria. Il processo risorgimentale è
sintetizzato in tre cartine.
Nella prima, si ripercorrono i momenti salienti che hanno portato all’Unità del Paese.
Nella seconda, particolare attenzione è stata rivolta ai luoghi che hanno dato i natali ad
alcuni personaggi, il cui operato fu importante per la costruzione dell’ Unità d’Italia. Nella
stessa cartina si parla anche del brigantaggio e di alcuni capibanda.
Pur non esaminando il fenomeno e le cause, se ne è evidenziata la diffusione specialmente
nella nostra regione.
Nella terza cartina, quella di Carbone, sono indicate in rosso le strade dedicate a personaggi
del Risorgimento (il contenuto delle tre cartine presenta anche la versione in inglese).
L’obiettivo di questo lavoro è far conoscere la storia di personaggi che vivono, il più delle
volte, solo sui libri, se non del tutto ignorati. Eppure hanno segnato profondamente la nostra
storia, quella d’Italia, sacrificando, spesso, la loro stessa vita, per un sogno antico, quello di
un Paese unito!
Per approfondimenti servirsi dei collegamenti ipertestuali presenti in entrambe le diapositive.
Plombières agreements,
between France,
represented by Napoleon III
and Kingdom of Sardinia,
represented by Cavour.
The Kingdom of Sardinia
ceded to France
Nice and Savoy;
Kingdom of Sardinia
had Lombardy from Austria
by the Armistice of Villafranca.
Annexation of grand duchy of
Tuscany
and of the smaller duchies
through the plebiscite.
Expedition of the Thousand (1860)
led by G. Garibaldi.
It Is freed
the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
and Francesco II of Bourbon
had to flee.
1866
(Third War of Independence)
Italy and Prussia
against Austria
At the end of the war
Italy gained
Veneto from Austria
1870
The Italian bersaglieri
occupied Rome.
End of World War I
Italy received from Austria
Trentino Alto Adige,
Friuli Venezia Giulia,
Trieste and Istria.
After World War II
the borders of Italy
become as in map
because Istria
was ceded to Yugoslavia.
Hanno collaborato alla realizzazione di questo progetto:
Classe Prima:
Castronuovo Noemi
Chielpo Dina
Chiorazzo Vittoria
Dammiani Antonio
Iorio Marta
La Grotta Giusy
Tufaro Valeria
Classe terza:
Angelino Antony
Cascini Giuseppe
Fiorenza Francesco
Giordanelli Nicola
Iorio Giusy
Panetta Egidio
Vascetta Cristiano
Classe seconda:
Del Monte Luca
De Marco Piercarmine
Gugliotta Francesco
Szymczuk Patrizia
Prof.ssa Pasqualina Ferrara
Prof.ssa Piera Gioia
Prof.ssa Benedetta Bruno
Prof.ssa Alba Fuoco
Prof. Donato Clemente
Dir.Scol. Filomena Valicenti
Alessandro Manzoni
Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Manzoni (March 7th 1785, Milan - May 22nd
1873, Milan) was an Italian writer, poet and playwright. He is considered one
of the greatest Italian novelists of all time, mainly for his famous novel
“I promessi sposi”. He was also a senator for life of the Kingdom of Italy. He
was born in Milan on March 7th 1785 of Giulia Beccaria and Don Pietro Manzoni
(exponent of the Lecchese lower nobility). In 1808, in Milan, the writer had
married the Calvinist Henriette Blondel (1791-1833), a Genevan banker’s
daughter; the marriage was happy, crowned with the birth of 10 children.
The attending with the priest Eustachio Degola led the couple, one to an
abjuration of Calvinism and the other to a reapproaching with Catholic religious
practice (1810). His intellectual energy in the time immediately following the
conversion was taken up in the composition of five hymns: The Resurrection,
Mary’s name, Christmas, Passion and Pentecost, a series of poems on the main
liturgical festivities. The death of Napoleon in 1821 inspired Manzoni's
famous lyric poem “Il cinque maggio”. In 1860 he was appointed Senator
of the Kingdom: with this assignment in 1864 he voted in favour of moving the
capital city from Turin to Florence as long as Rome was not freed.
Antonio Franco
Francavilla in Sinni –
30thDecember 1865, Potenza)
Antonio Franco and his band
Antonio Franco, nicknamed Wolf of Mount Pollino, was an Italian brigand.
Together with Carmine Crocco, was one of the greatest chief of Lucan
brigands during the Risorgimento. Antonio Franco was born in Francavilla in
Sinni of a peasant family, he set off soon for military service under the
Bourbon regime for Lagonegro. Franco returned in Francavilla when the
Bourbon Empire fell. Dr. Grimaldi wrote a letter and went to Franco kindly
asking him to bring it to Lagonegro to the lieutenant, furthermore he
begged him not to open it for no reason at all. Franco before leaving,
gaining from the fact that his friend was able to read (because he was
illiterate), opened the letter and found that the content was a real conviction
against him. Franco with his friends attracted the mayor in his cornfield,
captured him and killed him. Since then Franco and his few friends became
fugitives.
Carbone
1860
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On 21 October 1860 was the day fixed for the plebiscite for annexation
of the Bourbon provinces to the Savoy State and that date coincided with
the Feast of SS Immaculate in Carbone, so the crowd was huge in the
country. In the confusion appeared a procession of peasants who rose up
the Bourbon banner; the commander of the local National Guard, Molfese,
tried to avoid the peasants made for the electoral office, but he was killed
by a hundred shots; Molfese’s wife (Constance Chiurazzi) was attacked by
an axe and, even if she managed to survive, she was abandoned in a pool
of blood. Rebels led at the church and then went in procession through
the village the statue of Our Lady Immaculate, up to a stop near the town
hall where they provided for the election of a new municipality and a new
commander of the guard. The revolt was only suppressed after several
days.
Carmine Crocco
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Carmine Crocco (5
June 1830, Rionero in Vulture – 18
June 1905,
Portoferraio) was an Italian revolutionary and a brigand, the most famous and
representative of the Risorgimento. Within a few years, from a humble labourer
became commander of an army of over two thousand men, thus earning the
nickname of "General of the brigands, " at first fighting in the ranks of Giuseppe
Garibaldi, then with the Bourbons and finally for himself. Under his command
there were 43 bands. The consistency of his army did Basilicata the heart of the
anti-Savoy rebellion. In about four years on the run, Crocco was one of the most
feared and wanted outlaws in the post-unitary and hung upon him a reward of
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20,000 lire. The brigand was sentenced to death on 11 September 1872 but the
sentence was later commuted to life hard labor.
Camillo Benso Count of Cavour
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He was born on 10 August 1810 in Turin. Second son of the Marquis
Michele and Genevan Adele Sellon, Cavour was a young army officer. In
1831 he left the military and for four years travelled through the Europe.
Returned in Piedmont he was primarily interested in agriculture, in
economies and in the spread of schools and kindergartens. Thanks to his
business and banking Cavour became one of the richest men in Piedmont.
In December 1847 the foundation of the newspaper "Il
Risorgimento" marked the beginning of his political commitment:
only a profound restructuring of political institutions in Piedmont and the
creation of a state territorially large and united in Italy would have,
according to Cavour, made possible the process of development and socialeconomic growth. In 1850, having drawn attention himself in the defense of
the Siccardi laws (promoted to reduce the privileges granted to the clergy,
provided for the abolition of the ecclesiastical court, the right of asylum in
churches and convents, the reduction of the number of religious festivals
and the prohibition for the ecclesiastical corporations to buy goods, receive
an inheritance or donation without receiving the consent of the Government)
Cavour was involved to be part of the government, to become Prime
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Minister on 4 November 1852.
Convinced as he was that economic progress was extremely important for
the political life of a country, Cavour devoted himself to a radical renewal of
the Piedmontese economy. Cavour's diplomatic skill in keeping the
consent of the European powers and the loyalty of Giuseppe
Garibaldi to the motto "Italy and Vittorio Emmanuele" led to the
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proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, on 17 March 1861. Count
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Camillo Benso of Cavour died in his hometown on 6 June 1861.
Emilio Petruccelli
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Emilio Petruccelli was born in Moliterno on 24 September 1817; he was one
of the greatest local exponents of the sect of the Italian Unification.
He was arrested and convicted for acts committed in Potenza in 1848, the
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penalty, however, was reduced in life exile. On 13 August 1860 he came back
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to Potenza. He was excluded from the for dictatorial government, on 5
September he claimed and got the appointment as mayor head of state of the
Basilicata Brigade, with whom he reached the Garibaldi's troops on the
Volturno. He also held other public offices.
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On 18 August 1884, during the celebration of the Lucan revolt, he fell and
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suffered serious wounds, owing to these he died on 4 September 1884 in
Potenza.
Francesco Lovito
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Francesco Lovito was born in Moliterno on 22 October 1830 of Mr. Martino,
a lawyer, and Mrs. Celestina Miadonna from Craco. He was trained to
austerity of studies and to love for their country. He started on study law
but, being in delicate health, he was forced to return to the family in 1850
and during this period he maintained contact with Giacomo Racioppi and
Tiberio Petruccelli, returning from prison for political offenses. He also
became a fervent conspirator and he did his best to the Italian
independence and unification. He was one of the promoters of the
rising against the Bourbon regime in Basilicata. In 1861 he was
elected to Parliament by the College of Chiaromonte and later he
was re-elected by the College of Brienza and that of Potenza. In 1870
he was General Secretary of Agriculture with the Minister Castagnola and
then Minister of the Interior with Depretis from 1881 to 1883. He died in
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Moliterno on 6 January 1906.
Francesco Mario Pagano
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Francesco Mario Pagano (December 8 1748, Brienza - October 29 1799,
Naples) was a lawyer, politician and Italian patriot. He was born in Brienza,
a small town in Basilicata, of a family of notaries; he moved to Naples at the age
of twelve, next to his uncle Nicola, completed his classical studies and
matriculated the Faculty of Law. He held the chair of Ethics (1770), then that one
of Criminal Law (1785) at the University of Naples, distinguishing himself as a
lawyer at the court of Admiralty (of which later he became the judge) in defense
of the anti-Bourbon conspirators. Between 1796 and 1798 he was imprisoned
owing to a complaint, filed against him by a lawyer who had accused him of being
an anti-monarchical; released, repaired at first to Rome and then to Milan,
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returning to Naples on 1 February 1799. With the fall of the Neapolitan Republic,
Pagano, having taken up arms that strenuously defended the last fortalices of the
city besieged by the Bourbon troops, was put to death by hanging in Market
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Square (October 29 1799) together with other patriots.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was a general, Italian patriot and leader. Also known
as the “Hero of Two Worlds” for his military tasks performed both in
Europe and in South America, he is the most important figure of the
Risorgimento. Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in Nice, a city which was at
that time a county of the Republic of Genoa (1096 - 1815). Joseph's
parents wanted him to start a lawyer or doctor or priest career, but the
son didn’t love much school and preferred physical exercises and the life
on the sea. On 11th February 1834 there would be a popular rising in
Piedmont. Garibaldi disembarked to get in touch with Mazzini, but the
failure of rising and alert of the army and police did fail everything.
So Garibaldi decided to leave for South America with the intention to
propagandize Mazzini’s ideals.
There in 1842 he married Ana Maria de Jesus ibeiro, known to history with
the pet name of "Anita". Anita and Garibaldi had four children. Garibaldi
returned to Italy in 1848, after the outbreak of the first war of
independence.
After the Piedmontese defeat in Novara, Garibaldi took part in the fighting
in defense of the Roman Republic, threatened by the French and
Neapolitan troops which defended the interests of Pope Pius IX. In spite of
numerous acts of heroism of the patriots and the brave defense organized
by Garibaldi, the enormous numerical superiority of the French and
Neapolitan army had finally the better of it. Rome fell, and Garibaldi, with
his own, was forced to take flight. He was alone with Anita pregnant and
they were hunted down the papal soldiers, so Garibaldi lost his wife, who
died in the marsh of the Valli di Comacchio.
In 1860, Garibaldi organized an expedition to conquer the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Garibaldi with his legendary
Thousand reached Sicily by sea, leaving from Quarto, near Genoa,
with two steamships: Piedmont and Lombardy. Then he disimbarked
in the port of Marsala proclaiming himself dictator of Sicily in the name of
Vittorio Emanuele II, named King of Italy. On 19thAugust, Garibaldians
disembarked in Calabria in Melito, then they outflanked and defeated the
Bourbons in Reggio Calabria on 21st August. On 2nd September, the
Thousand arrived in Basilicata (the first continental province of the
kingdom to rise against the Bourbons), passing through Rotonda (where
Garibaldi stayed for a night), Tortora (in Calabria) and then he returnd in
Lucanian borders in Maratea and Lagonegro. Left Basilicata, he docked in
Campania passing through Vibonati and Sala Consilina, and he began a
fast march towards north, which ended on the 7th of September, with the
entry in Naples. The capital was abandoned by King Francis II, who had
moved the army to north of the river Volturno. The battle of the Volturno
was the most brilliant of those fought by Garibaldi's forces who
successfully repelled the attack of Bourbons. Garibaldi met Vittorio
Emanuele II on 26th October 1860, in Teano and gave him the
sovereignty over the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Garibaldi then
accompanied the king in Naples on 7th November and the next day, he
retired on the island of Caprera, refusing to accept any reward for his
failure to release services. At the beginning of the third Italian war of
independence they were reorganized the volunteers called Italian
Volunteer Corps. Once again under the command of Garibaldi it was
opened the way towards Riva del Garda and then the imminent occupation
of the city of Trento. But he was stopped by the armistice of Cormons. On
this occasion, received the news of the armistice and the order to leave
the occupied territory, he concisely answered "I obey", a word which later
became the saying of the Italian Risorgimento and a symbol of Garibaldi’s
discipline and devotion.
He died in Caprera, on 2nd June 1882.
Giacinto Albini
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Giacinto Albini (March 24 1821, Naples - March 11 1884, Potenza) was an
Italian patriot and politician. Important figure of the Risorgimento, he lived many
years underground because of his opposition to the Bourbon kingdom; he was
the author of the so-called Lucanian Insurrection in 1860, which allowed
Garibaldi and his Thousand to reach Campania region without great difficulties.
Albini came from a Sarconese family, who moved to Montemurro. After a degree
in law at the University of Naples, he took a second degree in literature. The
hunting of the Bourbons against the revolutionaries forced Albini to move to
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Corleto Perticara. But in 1860, at first in Corleto (August 16 ), then in Potenza
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(August 18 ), the Lucan revolutionaries with Giacinto Albini were supporters of
the insurrection of Basilicata against the Bourbons; that was the first continental
southern region to proclaim the Unification of Italy. Elected in 1861 during the
first elections to the Italian Parliament, he was vice-mayor of Naples and,
finally, mayor of Montemurro. After his death, Rome wanted to remember him
with a bust to the Pincio, placing a marble bust of him close to that of other
patriots.
Giacomo Dina
(1824 Turin – 1879 Turin)
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The newspaper “L’Opinione” was conceived in Turin on 26 January 1846 at
the tables of "Il Cambio", a restaurant that still overlooks the Palazzo
Carignano, at that time the seat of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
The newspaper was born on the initiative of Camillo Cavour, with the task of
promoting among moderate liberals what Massimo D'Azeglio called "the
Italian national opinion. " In 1852 Giacomo Dina was called into direction,
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who led the newspaper for 27 years, until his death, which occurred on 16
July 1879. With the transfer of the capital city of the Kingdom of Italy, the
headquarters of the newspaper was first moved to Florence (1865), then to
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Rome (1871). The newspaper publications ceased on 10 April 1899. The
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newspaper was closed on 20 December 1900.
Giacomo Racioppi
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Giacomo Racioppi (May 21 1827, Moliterno - March 21 1908, Rome)
Giacomo Racioppi was a historian, politician and Italian economist. He
was born of Francesco, a professor of law and justice of the peace. He didn’t
participate directly in the risings of 1848, even if he actively involved in the
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Garibaldi’s dictatorial government. On 22
February 1849, however, was
arrested after he asked to visit a fellow-citizen prisoner to have shared in a
conspiracy; owing to the arrest his house was searched and various
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"subversives” writings were found. On 7 June 1853 was released, entered in
the register of reliable politicians and obliged to forced residence in Moliterno
until 1860. The events connected with the expedition of the Thousand still
found him in Moliterno. In 1874 he was appointed Director of Statistics to
the Ministry of Agriculture, then he was regent of the Bank of Naples (until
1896), after that he was councillor of the Council of State and finally he was
elected senator in 1905.
Carducci
Giosuè Alessandro Giuseppe Carducci was a poet and Italian
writer. He enrolled himself in the Faculty of Letters in 1856 and he
graduated in philosophy and philology. On 7th March 1859 he married
Elvira Menicucci, a distant cousin, with whom he had five children. A
decree on 26th September 1860 was commissioned by the Minister of
Education Terenzio Mamiani Della Rovere to hold the chair of Italian
Eloquence, later called Italian Literature at the University of Bologna,
where he remained in office until 1904.
Then he established a reputation for himself, as a national guide of the
Italian culture. Of those years was the abundant poetic production that will
be collected in Rime Nuove (1861-1887), and in Odi barbare (1877-1889).
In 1878, during a visit of the royal family in Bologna, he wrote the Ode to
the Queen of Italy in honor of Queen Margherita, admirer of his verses,
and he was accused of being converted to the monarchy, so that provoked
deep controversies by the Republicans. In 1890 he was appointed
senator. In May 1890 he moved together with Elvira to Mura Mazzinis’, in
Del Piombo Street, then almost out of Bologna, which called Casa Carducci
at that time, it is now an important museum and it keeps the largest
library and the private archives of the writer. In 1899 he published his last
collection of poems, Rime e Ritmi; in 1904 he was forced to leave teaching
for health reasons. In 1906 the Swedish Academy awarded him with
the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Giuseppe Caruso
(18thDecember 1820, Atella – 1892, Atella)
Giuseppe Caruso, nicknamed Zi 'Beppe, before being a brigand, was a rural
keeper by Saraceno’s, a noble family from Atella. In April 1861, after he shot
at a national guard of his country, he decided to become a brigand to avoid
shooting. He immediately distinguished himself by his coldness and his
leadership skills. Caruso, in unclear circumstances, surrendered to General
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Fontana on 14 September 1863 in Rionero. Imprisoned and interrogated in
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prison in Potenza, the brigand betrayed his comrades. On 5 October 1863,
the Military Court in Potenza sentenced him to seven years in prison, a
sentence reduced because of his collaboration with the institutions. For giving
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a great contribution to the destruction of the banditry in Vulture, on 7
November 1864, King Vittorio Emanuele II granted him a pardon. For his
efforts, the former brigand received various privileges and he was appointed
sergeant of the foresters in Monticchio. Caruso died in 1892 at the age of 72
years.
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi was born in the countryside of Parma, in Roncole, village of
Busseto, of Carlo, landlord and seller of foodstuff, and Louigia Uttini, spinner. In
those years Busseto and its territory were part of the French Empire. Even though
he was a young man of humble social status, he succeeded to follow his vocation
as a composer thanks to his good will. Later, Antonio Barezzi, a dealer who loves
music and director of the local philharmonic society, convinced that the trust was
not misplaced in the young, became his patron and protector, helping him to
continue the undertaken studies. Verdi was only fifteen years old when, in 1828,
his opening symphony was performed during a performance of The Barber of
Seville at the theatre of Busseto. In 1832 he settled in Milan, with the Barezzi
Antonio’s economic help. In Milan he tried in vain to be admitted at the
prestigious conservatory. In 1836 he married Margaret Barezzi, twenty-two years
old his benefactor’s daughter. Finally in 1839, after four years of work, he
succeeded in representing his first opera at La Scala: it was the Oberto, Earl of
San Bonifacio.
As it was a success, the manager of La Scala, Bartolomeo Merelli, commissioned
the comedy “Un giorno di regno”, performed with disastrous results. The failure
of the opera was due, in all probability, to the conditions in which it was
composed. A terrible pain gripped Verdi because of his family tragedy that had
lived through the death of his wife and children. This had thrown the musician in
the deepest depression, and ironically, the opera that was required had to be
comic. Merelli tried to convince him not to give up the opera, personally handing
him a book of biblical subject, the Nabucco, that Verdi agreed to set to music.
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The opera was performed on 9 March 1842 at the Teatro alla Scala and the
success was triumphant this time. Thanks to the Nabucco Verdi began his
upward.
Giustino Fortunato
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Giustino Fortunato (September 4 1848, Rionero in Vulture – Luglio 23 1932,
Naples) was a writer, politician, historian, and expert on the problems of
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Southern Italy. He was born on 4 September 1848 in Rionero in Vulture of
Pasquale and Antonia Rampolla - descendant of a noble family awarded the title
of Marquis. He was admitted to law school and after his graduation he decided to
pursue a political career. His political purpose was to "cooperate in the civil
reconstruction of the country, for that reason he didn’t join" neither the Right
nor the Left.". Fortunato, together with others, succeeded in passing the bill 505
of 23/12/1900, which guaranteed the Quinine at low prices, it provided for the
sale in monopolies and chemist’s shops, it opened state laboratories of
antimalarial prophylaxis. He devoted himself to Parliamentary activity, to
the study of social and economic problems, and he wanted and knew to
find comfort and relief in historical researches. In confirmation of his
passion of literary man and scholar, his home in Naples became, for many years,
a "literary salon" attended to scholars, politicians, intellectuals of the period. After
nearly a quarter of a century of parliamentary life in 1909 he announced his
leave. His health not wholesome didn’t allow him to be devoted to the sessions of
the Senate.
Guglielmo Marconi
Nobel Prize winner for physics in 1909, Guglielmo Marconi was born on
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25 April 1874. He spent his childhood in Pontecchio, Villa Grifone, a town near
Bologna, where he developed his first scientific curiosity and reached his great
discovery, the invention of the radio. It was there that the scientist launched
by a window, through the invention of a transmitting antenna, the first signal of
wireless telegraphy, in 1895, through that it will become "the hill of the radio”.
Marconi devoted his life to the development and improvement of the
radiocommunication. He studied privately; he was twenty years old when the
German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz died: from a reading of his experiences
Marconi will be inspired for those works on electromagnetic waves that took
him up for life. Fortified by his discoveries and galvanized by the prospects
(even commercial) that could open, in 1897 founded "Marconi's Wireless
Telegraph Companie" in England, but not before registering, at only twentytwo, his first patent. The benefits of his invention were immediately
appreciated by all and there was a particular case that proves so in clamorous
way: the first rescue by radio call, which occurred in those years about a lost
ship in the English Channel.
In 1901 the first wireless telegraph signals are transmitted between Poldhu
(Cornwall) and Newfoundland (North America). The transmitting station of 25 kW
power placed in Poldhu Cove in Cornwall, as an antenna is a set of fan-shaped
hanging wires between two trees 45 meters high, while the receiving station,
located in St. Johns Newfoundland, is only composed of a kite that carries an
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antenna of 120 metres. On 12 December 1901, using headphones and a coherer,
are received the first SOS across the Atlantic. So Marconi, not yet thirty years old,
is full of glory and his name already famous. Those were the first transatlantic
transmissions. In 1902, honoured and celebrated everywhere, Marconi made some
experience on the Royal Charles Albert ship, demonstrating the possibility of the
radio link between the ships and the land. A few years later, the 706 survivors of
the well-known Titanic disaster owe the salvation to the radio and, also for this
reason, England conferred the title of Sir upon Marconi, while Italy appoints him
Senator (1914) and Marquis (1929). In 1914, increasingly obsessed by the desire
to broaden the potential of the instruments born from his genius, he improved the
first radio-telephone set. Then it began the study of short-wave beam systems,
which enabled him to make further progress and the possibility to continue those
experiments that never tired to do. In that period he was also interested in the
problem of radio-echoes.
In 1930 he was appointed president of the Royal Academy of Italy. In the same
year he began to study the microwaves, a prelude to the invention of the radar.
Guglielmo Marconi died in Rome at the age of 63 years, on 20th July 1937, after
he was appointed doctor honoris causa by the Universities of Bologna, Oxford,
Cambridge, and other Italian universities, without forgetting that to the University
of Rome he was a professor of radio communications.
The Lucan rising
Lucan rising is the name of a series of events of the Risorgimento occurred
in Basilicata in August 1860. In that period the province was the first one,
of the continental part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, to declare
dethroned King Francesco II of Bourbon, and to proclaim its annexation to
the Kingdom of Italy.
Montemurro, centre of action of the revolutionary committees
Owing to the concession and following abrogation of the Constitution of
the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Lucan Liberals had gathered in
committees, led mainly by Giacinto Albini (wanted by the Bourbon guards
because of had already promoted and founded the Constitutional Club in
1848), who in Montemurro founded an anti-Bourbon committee. From
this, that was the head one, they were born committees of the same
gender in all major towns of the region. In 1860, after the battle of
Milazzo and the capture of Sicily by Garibaldi's men, Giacinto Albini,
together with Camillo Boldoni and Nicola Mignona met in Corleto Perticara,
to organize a rising in the province.
Rising in Corleto
On the 16th of August in the town of Corleto Perticara, at 5 in the
afternoon, Albini and his men, officially proclaimed the unification of Italy,
in a popular and religious demonstration held in Piazza Del Fosso, then
renamed Plebiscito Square. They were placed the arms, the Bourbon coat
of arms and in their place images of Vittorio Emanuele II, King of Italy,
were erected, and flags of the Savoy dynasty. The ceremony was
accompanied by music, military parades and fireworks. At dawn on the
18th of August about 500 men gathered in Corleto went to Potenza.
On 18th August 1860
At dawn on 18ththe men entered the city, resisting the engagement
against the Bourbon National Guard.
Formation of proto-dictatorial government
On 19th August it was formed the proto-dictatorial government of the
province of Basilicata. On the 19th of August it was ordered the institution
of a insurrectional council in all municipalities in Basilicata. On 20th August
it was suspended the collection of indirect taxes to the population of
Potenza.
Propagation of the rising in the rest of the province
The head of the National Guard was the major Emilio Petruccelli. Main task
of the Guard was, as well as maintain order, that of putting down any
armed revolt. A counterinsurgency attempt was already put down in Melfi
on 19th on the following 22nd August, from Salerno, the Bourbon troops
advanced towards Potenza, passing through Auletta. Colonel Boldon,
gathered the National Guard forces, was waiting for the royal troops to
resist near Vietri of Potenza. There wasn’t, however, the battle, because
the Neapolitan government called troops directed in Basilicata back in
attempt to stop Garibaldi’s advance, who came from Calabria.
Nicola Alianelli
(July 10th1809, Missanello
September 22th1886, Missanello)
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nd
Nicola Alianelli (July 10 1809, Missanello - September 22 1886, Missanello)
was an Italian politician and magistrate. He was senator since 1876, in the
XII legislature. Judge of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, he was intolerant to the
tyrannical acts that the Bourbon government caused to the people under its
sovereignty. Based on those feelings, it was obvious for him to participate in the
risings of 1848. Their substantial failure cost him his removal of the magistracy
and the sentenced to "seven years in irons." With the success of the Risorgimento
process - culminating in 1861 in the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy – he
sat down in his place again in the judiciary and society. He was appointed
member of the Senate of the Kingdom and chaired the commission that
elaborated the new mercantile law. Successful was also his work as a law scholar.
Nicola Sole
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th
Nicola Sole (March 30 1821, Senise – December 5 1859,
Senise)
was
a
patriot,
poet
and
Italian
lawyer.
In 1836 he began practicing the study of medicine. At the age
of 19 he moved to Naples where he abandoned his medical
studies and devoted himself to law, graduating in 1845. He
moved to Potenza where he participated to the risings of
1848. He retired to Senise where he lived devoting himself
exclusively to literature and study. He died in Senise in 1859
because of the tuberculosis.
Author of poetry and especially of sonatas, among his writings
we remember: “L’arpa lucana”, a book of poetic songs
published in 1848, expressing his patriotism.
Ninco Nanco
Giuseppe Nicola Summa, nicknamed Ninco Nanco, was an
Italian brigand; he was one of the chief protagonists of
many battles against the army of Savoy. He was known for
his great skills of strategist in battle and, above all, for his
coolness and his brutality. Ninco Nanco (whose nickname
belonged to father’s family), was born in a family with many
problems with the law. The criminal acts of his family also
influenced the behavior of the young Nicola. Like many
outlaws of that time, Giuseppe also tried to enlist in
Giuseppe Garibaldi’s army, in order to receive mercy, but he
was rejected. Become a wanted person, Ninco Nanco began
living of robberies and thefts, taking refuge in the wood of
the Vulture. Her wife, Maria 'a Pastora, brigand from
Pisticci, was always next to him during the attacks and
ambushes. thNinco Nanco’s brigandish activity began to
misfire on 8 February 1864, when his gang was decimated
in Avigliano. About a month after the brigand and some of
his followers were captured near Lagopesole, by the
National Guard of Avigliano.
Francesco Lovito
nd
Francesco Lovito was born in Moliterno on 22 October 1830 of Mr. Martino,
a lawyer, and Mrs. Celestina Miadonna from Craco. He was trained to
austerity of studies and to love for their country. He started on study law
but, being in delicate health, he was forced to return to the family in 1850
and during this period he maintained contact with Giacomo Racioppi and
Tiberio Petruccelli, returning from prison for political offenses. He also
became a fervent conspirator and he did his best to the Italian
independence and unification. He was one of the promoters of the
rising against the Bourbon regime in Basilicata. In 1861 he was
elected to Parliament by the College of Chiaromonte and later he
was re-elected by the College of Brienza and that of Potenza. In 1870
he was General Secretary of Agriculture with the Minister Castagnola and
then Minister of the Interior with Depretis from 1881 to 1883. He died in
th
Moliterno on 6 January 1906.
Giacomo Racioppi
st
st
Giacomo Racioppi (May 21 1827, Moliterno - March 21 1908, Rome)
Giacomo Racioppi was a historian, politician and Italian economist. He
was born of Francesco, a professor of law and justice of the peace. He didn’t
participate directly in the risings of 1848, even if he actively involved in the
nd
Garibaldi’s dictatorial government. On 22
February 1849, however, was
arrested after he asked to visit a fellow-citizen prisoner to have shared in a
conspiracy; owing to the arrest his house was searched and various
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"subversives” writings were found. On 7 June 1853 was released, entered in
the register of reliable politicians and obliged to forced residence in Moliterno
until 1860. The events connected with the expedition of the Thousand still
found him in Moliterno. In 1874 he was appointed Director of Statistics to
the Ministry of Agriculture, then he was regent of the Bank of Naples (until
1896), after that he was councillor of the Council of State and finally he was
elected senator in 1905.
Emilio Petruccelli
th
Emilio Petruccelli was born in Moliterno on 24 September 1817; he was one
of the greatest local exponents of the sect of the Italian Unification. He was
arrested and convicted for acts committed in Potenza in 1848, the penalty,
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however, was reduced in life exile. On 13 August 1860 he came back to
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Potenza. He was excluded from the for dictatorial government, on 5
September he claimed and got the appointment as mayor head of state of the
Basilicata Brigade, with whom he reached the Garibaldi's troops on the
Volturno. He also held other public offices.
th
On 18 August 1884, during the celebration of the Lucan revolt, he fell and
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suffered serious wounds, owing to these he died on 4 September 1884 in
Potenza.
Giustino Fortunato
th
rd
Giustino Fortunato (September 4 1848, Rionero in Vulture – Luglio 23 1932,
Naples) was a writer, politician, historian, and expert on the problems of
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Southern Italy. He was born on 4 September 1848 in Rionero in Vulture of
Pasquale and Antonia Rampolla - descendant of a noble family awarded the title
of Marquis. He was admitted to law school and after his graduation he decided to
pursue a political career. His political purpose was to "cooperate in the civil
reconstruction of the country, for that reason he didn’t join" neither the Right
nor the Left.". Fortunato, together with others, succeeded in passing the bill 505
of 23/12/1900, which guaranteed the Quinine at low prices, it provided for the
sale in monopolies and chemist’s shops, it opened state laboratories of
antimalarial prophylaxis. He devoted himself to Parliamentary activity, to
the study of social and economic problems, and he wanted and knew to
find comfort and relief in historical researches. In confirmation of his
passion of literary man and scholar, his home in Naples became, for many years,
a "literary salon" attended to scholars, politicians, intellectuals of the period. After
nearly a quarter of a century of parliamentary life in 1909 he announced his
leave. His health not wholesome didn’t allow him to be devoted to the sessions of
the Senate.
Carmine Crocco
th
th
Carmine Crocco (5
June 1830, Rionero in Vulture – 18
June 1905,
Portoferraio) was an Italian revolutionary and a brigand, the most famous and
representative of the Risorgimento. Within a few years, from a humble labourer
became commander of an army of over two thousand men, thus earning the
nickname of "General of the brigands, " at first fighting in the ranks of Giuseppe
Garibaldi, then with the Bourbons and finally for himself. Under his command
there were 43 bands. The consistency of his army did Basilicata the heart of the
anti-Savoy rebellion. In about four years on the run, Crocco was one of the most
feared and wanted outlaws in the post-unitary and hung upon him a reward of
th
20,000 lire. The brigand was sentenced to death on 11 September 1872 but the
sentence was later commuted to life hard labor.
Pietro Lacava
(October 26th1835, Corleto Perticara
December 26th1912, Rome)
He studied in Latronico (PZ) and in Naples, where he attended to law courses.
st
On 21 June 1860 he was part of the Lucan Central Committee of Corleto
th
Perticara and 19
August, owing to the insurrection of Basilicata, was
appointed Secretary of the Lucan Protodictatorial Government. He became
vice-governor in Lagonegro, then he suppressed the legitimist demonstrations
in October 1860. For many years he was president of the provincial council of
Basilicata. In 1867 became head of police administration in Naples, from which
was dismissed because he was accused of supporting the Garibaldian
movement. In 1868 he was elected member of Parliament for the
th
College of Corleto Perticara. He sided with Francesco Crispi, so on 10
March 1889 he became Minister of postal and telegraph services. During the
leadership of the Ministry, Lacava received a letter from Guglielmo Marconi, in
which he explained the invention of the wireless telegraph, applying for a loan.
Marconi, receiving no reply, went to England where he obtained the patent and
the necessary loan. He held various important offices during Giolitti’s
government.
Vincenzo de Filpo
st
th
(April 21 1832, Viggianello – January 14 1900, Viggianello)
Vincenzo De Filpo was an Italian politician.
He was a Senator of the Kingdom of Italy.
Vittorio Emanuele
(March 14th1820, Turin
January 9th1878, Rome)
Vittorio Emanuele II of Savoy was the last king of Sardinia (from 1849 to
1861) and the first king of Italy (from 1861 to 1878). He was assisted by
the Prime Minister Camillo Benso Count of Cavour; in fact he completed the
Risorgimento and the process of the Italian unification, earning the appellation of
"Father of the Country". When, in 1831, his father Charles Albert was
nominated to succeed Carlo Felice of Savoy, Vittorio Emanuele followed him to
Turin. Obtained the rank of general, he married his cousin Maria Adelaide of
th
Habsburg-Lorraine in 1842. Carlo Alberto, allowed the constitution on 4 March
1848 and declared war on Austria, meanwhile, he opened the long period known
as the Italian Risorgimento entering Lombardy with Piedmontese and Italian
troops rushed to the help of him. The results of the first war of independence,
however, were wrong for the Kingdom of Sardinia. He signed his abdication, and
with a forged passport, he fled to Nice, from where he went into exile in Portugal.
Vittorio Emanuele II, disavowed his father’s actions. But refused to revoke the
constitution (Statute), in spite of pressures of Austria, the only sovereign state to
preserve it in all the peninsula. The meeting with Garibaldi, made history as
th
"Teano meeting", took place on 26 October 1860: it was recognized the
sovereignty of Vittorio Emanuele II in all territories of the ex- Kingdom of the Two
Sicilies.
At the Italian unification were still missing important pieces, including Veneto,
Trentino, Friuli, Lazio, Istria and Venezia-Giulia. The project was to put the royal
st
nd
head office in Rome. Between September 21 and 22 1864 bloody riots broke
out in the streets of the city, as soon as they learnt about the decision to move
the capital to Florence. As a result of news stories, which led to the wounding of
some foreign delegates and violent hail of stones, Vittorio Emanuele II put the
city with a fait accompli by publishing on the Official Gazette this notice:"This
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morning at 8.00, H.M. the King left Turin for Florence”. On 8 September
th
failed the last attempt to get Rome by peaceful means, and on 20 September
General Cadorna opened a breach in the Roman wall. With Rome as the capital
was closed the page of the Risorgimento, although they still lacked the socalled "unredeemed lands". Among the problems that were necessary to tackle,
from illiteracy to banditry, from industrialization to the right to vote, there was
the "Roman Question". Although it had been recognized special immunity to the
Pope, the honours of Head of State, an annual pension and control over the
Vatican and Castel Gandolfo, Pope Pius IX refused to recognize the Italian State
and prevented the Catholics from participating in the civic life of the kingdom.
Furthermore, the Pope excommunicated the House of Savoy, that is, both to
Vittorio Emanuele II and his successors, and together with them to anyone
involved in Italian politics. The excommunication was only withdrew at the point
th
of death of the Sovereign. The King died on 9 January 1878, assisted by his
sons. Vittorio Emanuele II expressed the desire that his coffin was buried in
Piedmont, in the Basilica of Superga, but Umberto I, consenting to the requests
of the City of Rome, approved that the body remained in the city, in the
Pantheon.