Francesco Scalini

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Francesco Scalini (born August 15, 1792 in Como , † March 8, 1871 in Genestrerio ) was an Austrian engineer and politician .

Life

Francesco Scalini was the son of the wealthy goldsmith Abbondio Scalini and his wife Laura (née Calvi-Fontana).

He began studying engineering and architecture at the University of Pavia and graduated from the University of Bologna with Giovanni Antonio Antolini .

As Joachim Murat in 1815, began the Papal States to occupy, welcomed Francesco Scalini its way into Bologna on April 2, 1815 and presented itself, but unsuccessful, the National Guard as a volunteer at. After Murat's reign ended when he was executed on October 13, 1815, he moved to Egypt and was employed in Cairo by the saltpetre producer Giovanni Baffi, who came from Pergola . On behalf of Giovanni Baffi and the English consul Henry Salt , he carried out excavations in Egypt and made valuable archaeological finds. Over time he developed into a scholar of Egyptian and Greco-Roman history and art, as well as a numismatist and book collector .

In 1819 he returned to Como and came into contact with the liberal and democratic Milanese circles; he took part in the conspiracy meeting of the entrepreneur Luigi Porro Lambertenghi (1780-1860), who, together with Silvio Pellico , wanted to unite Italy and give a new constitution. When Lambertenghi was to be arrested, he was able to flee to England in 1820 , while Pellico was arrested.

In August 1825, Francesco Scalini settled in Pergola after Baffi had temporarily returned there from Egypt and was supported by Pope Leo XII. had received permission to manufacture saltpetre in the Papal States; he became administrator of the Baffi estates. During his stay in Pergola, which he interrupted from November 1827 to June 1828 to return to Como and renew his Austrian passport, he was in contact with members of the Carbonari .

After the outbreak of the revolution, Francesco Scalini took part in the Assembly of the United Provinces in Bologna on March 10, 1831 for the communities of Pergola and Pennabilli , when the Austrians were already at the gates of the city. After the uprising had been suppressed by the Austrians, he was expelled from the Papal States by a decree of the criminal court of Milan on August 8, 1831 for high treason .

Immediately after entering Austrian territory, he was arrested at a border station and transferred to Milan. Although the interrogations by Paride Zajotti (1793–1843) produced no evidence that he wanted to extend the revolution to Austria, the supreme senate of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Veneto sentenced him to death. After a pardon , he was released from prison on October 9, 1832, but was ordered not to contact his liberal friends, and an entry ban was issued to Switzerland . During his stay in Como he was friends with Cesare Cantù , came into contact with Giuseppe Mazzini and probably joined Giovine Italia .

He left for Egypt and arrived in Alexandria on November 7, 1833 . For Baffi, he again carried out excavation work in Upper Egypt , Palestine , Sinai and Darfur , where he worked again for the British Henry Salt and the Austrian Giuseppe Acerbi . He managed to obtain a British passport and with it he moved to Switzerland in 1835. He lived in Mendrisio , Lugano and finally in Genestrerio, where he established his permanent residence. In Ticino he was still politically active for the Italian cause and worked on a complete edition of Ugo Foscolo's works, which was never published. However, he used the contacts in the Lombard cultural environment of Ugo Foscolo and collected documentary and unpublished materials about him, which he later published as Foscoliana .

When there were national uprisings against the Austrians in March 1848, he hurried with a selected group of Carabinieri from Ticino to the Five Days in Como, where he became a member of the military commission and was involved in the Austrian surrender; In the period from March 23, 1848 to April 13, 1848 he was a member of the Committee for Security and Defense in the Provisional Government of Como. After the return of the Austrians, he devoted himself to the smuggling of arms in view of a new uprising and was responsible for spreading the illegal press. After the arrest of Luigi Dottesio (1814-1851), who carried illegal leaflets with him when he entered Italy, under pressure from Josef Wenzel Radetzky von Radetz, Francesco Scalini was deported on April 3, 1851 and then again on April 8. March 1853, which he was able to prevent due to his British passport.

After he received cantonal citizenship in Ticino in 1856 , he led a retired life in Genestrerio, only participating in local politics and devoting himself to growing mulberries for the silk industry.

He translated the Sermones fideles, written by Francis Bacon , from the English into the Italian Calendario per la futura Italia ossia ogni giorno un quesito italico, una sentenza ed un proverbio di argomento morale, politico economico coll'aggiunta della versione italiana dei sermoni fedeli o dell ' intima natura delle cose e di altre operetta di Francesco Bacone . He also published, among other things, writings on the political intervention in the so-called Ticino diocesan inquiry, an essay on biblical exegesis and a text in which he tried to integrate religion and belief in science.

Francesco Scalini was active in a variety of ways and dealt with natural sciences and physics, with theological teachings as well as classical and modern writings as well as with linguistic and philological studies.

He was unmarried all his life.

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personal data
SURNAME Scalini, Francesco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian engineer and politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1792
PLACE OF BIRTH Como
DATE OF DEATH March 8, 1871
Place of death Genestrerio