Alessandro Torlonia
Alessandro Raffaele Torlonia (born January 1, 1800 in Rome , † February 7, 1886 in Rome) was an Italian nobleman (second prince of Civitella-Cesi, first duke of Ceri, marquis of Roma-Vecchia, first prince of Fucino), banker , Entrepreneur and art collector.
family
Alessandro comes from the Torlonia family , who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries a. a. Managed the Vatican finances and made great fortunes. He was the fourth child and the third son of the banker Don Giovanni Raimondo Torlonia , who was ennobled by Prince von Fürstenberg in 1794, from his marriage to Anna Maria Schultheiss , a saddler's daughter from Germany ( Donaueschingen ) . Alessandro was married to Donna Teresa Colonna- Doria (1823–1875), with whom he had two daughters, Anna Maria (* March 8, 1855; † 1901) and Giovanna Carolina (1856–1875). On October 24, 1872, Anna Maria Torlonia married Don Giulio Borghese , Prince of Fucino, Duke of Cori, who became second Prince of Fucino by marriage and in 1873 took the name of Torlonia. After his death, his titles (and coat of arms) went to Augusto Torlonia , the grandson of his older brother Giulio Torlonia .
In honor of Alessandro Torlonia's young wife, a private print was created on the occasion of the wedding, splendidly decorated by Cavaliere Pietro Ercole Visconti , with poems by Teresa's ancestor Vittoria Colonna , a famous writer who was friends with Michelangelo . In Visconti's dedication poem, he compares Alessandro with the late husband Fernando Francesco d'Avalos di Pescara , who appears in Colonna's work , whose death she lamented in sonnets .
Life
Don Alessandro Torlonia was the heir to a great fortune. After the death of his father, he continued the expansion of the Villa Torlonia in Rome and had parts of the garden redesigned according to the pattern of an English landscape garden. He also expanded Torlonia's art holdings, building the Museo Torlonia in 1859 and purchasing the Villa Albani in 1866 .
Lake Fucino in the province of L'Aquila , which caused flooding in the surrounding villages due to changing water levels, was part of his legacy and was a breeding ground for malaria. Torlonia commissioned the Swiss engineer Franz Mayor de Montricher to drain the lake and took over the full financing of the project. The Swiss began building a 6.3 km long canal in 1862, which was completed in 1878. During the first stages of drainage, some ancient Roman sculptures, reliefs and other relics were found that enriched the Torlonia collection. For the draining and recultivation of the lake, Torlonio was awarded the hereditary title of Prince of Fucino and a gold medal by Vittorio Emmanuele II .
literature
- Daniela Felisini: "Quel capitalista per ricchezza principalissimo". Alessandro Torlonia principe, banchiere imprenditore nell'Ottocento romano. Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli 2004, ISBN 88-498-0949-2 .
- Maria Lanckorońska: A princely private print. In: Börsenblatt für den Deutschen Buchhandel - Frankfurter Ausgabe , No. 89, November 5, 1968, pp. 2941–2946, here: p. 2941.
Web links
- Drainage of Lake Fucino. (PDF; 11.4 MB; Italian)
Individual evidence
- ^ Maria Lanckorońska: A princely private print. In: Börsenblatt for the German book trade - Frankfurt edition. No. 89, November 5, 1968, pp. 2941-2946, here: p. 2941.
- ↑ Teresa (* July 22, 1823) was a descendant of the poet Vittoria Colonna and the daughter of Aspreno Colonna -Doria, the prince and duke of Paliano, and his wife Maria Giovanna Caettaneo from the house of the princes of San Nicandro.
- ↑ Teresa Colonna-Doria. In: Geneall. Retrieved October 8, 2019 (Italian, genealogy Teresa Colonna Doria ).
- ^ Maria Lanckorońska: A princely private print. 1968.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Torlonia, Alessandro |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Torlonia, Alessandro Raffaele (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian nobleman, banker, entrepreneur and art collector |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 1, 1800 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rome |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 7, 1886 |
| Place of death | Rome |