Luigi Amedeo Melegari

Luigi Melegari, dating unknown

Luigi Amedeo Melegari (born February 19, 1805 in Meletole (today part of the city of Castelnovo di Sotto ) in the Duchy of Parma , † May 22, 1881 in Bern ) was an Italian revolutionary, university professor and from November 20, 1876 to December 28, 1877 Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Italy .

Life and academic career

Melegari was born into a devout poor farming family. Thanks to an uncle who was a Catholic priest , he was still able to study law at the University of Parma . He then first worked as a primary school teacher, later he taught literature at a high school in Parma .

In 1840 he became a lecturer and, in May 1843, a full professor of political economy and international law at the Lausanne Academy . In this role he was involved in the drafting of a new criminal code , a new code of civil procedure and a new constitution for the canton of Vaud in the following years . In 1844 he married Maria Carolina, b. Mandrot, the daughter of one of the local supporters of the migrant community. In 1848 he moved to Turin , where he took up the professorship for national and international public law in October . He was one of Italy's most respected constitutional experts, and had a long-standing effect, as many later parliamentarians had been his students in their youth.

Activities as a revolutionary

As a teacher in Parma, he became a member of the Carbonari . After the suppression of the unrest that broke out in several Italian states in the wake of the French July Revolution , he fled in February 1831 with the aim of going into exile in France , but was arrested in Tuscany in April and after a few months in prison in September expelled. Melegari went to Marseille , where he founded the secret society Young Italy together with Giuseppe Mazzini , for which he was primarily active as a legal advisor, organizer and administrator over the next few years under the nom de guerre Facino Cane. When Mazzini was expelled from France and went to Switzerland , Melegari became the head of the organization throughout south-east France. It was during this time that his first reflections on a constitution for the future united Italy took place. As a monarchist and ardent Catholic, he had never fully agreed with Mazzini's ideas; the differences became clearer over time. In November 1833 he too moved to Switzerland and, together with Mazzini, prepared his failed train to Savoy, but did not take part himself for health reasons. In the spring of 1834 he was one of the 17 signatories of the founding appeal of Young Europe , but by August 1835 at the latest he had serious doubts about the effectiveness and strength of this association and also about Mazzini's method of conspiracies and uprisings. During these years he moved several times between Switzerland and France before settling in Lausanne in October 1838 . The gradually diminishing correspondence with Mazzini broke off in July 1843.

Political career

From July to December 1849, from 1851 to 1857 and 1860/61 Melegari was a left-wing liberal member of parliament before he was appointed senator for life in November 1862 . In the meantime he was also politically active. B. as secretary and rapporteur of the state commission for electoral law . He also drafted several bills in the field of higher education law for the government and prepared legal opinions on political issues, e.g. B. to introduce civil marriage and to confiscate church property . In 1859 he was appointed a member of the State Council, after which he gave up his professorship in 1860.

From March 3 to December 8, 1862, he officiated under the Prime Minister, Foreign and Interior Minister Urbano Rattazzi for the first time and from April 10 to October 27, 1867 for the second time as Secretary General (today approximately: State Secretary ) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was then appointed Ambassador to Switzerland under the title of Minister Plenipotentiary . With the exception of his tenure as Foreign Minister in 1876/77, he remained in this post until his death.

Others

In Rome , Milan and Reggio nell'Emilia streets are named "Via Luigi Amedeo Melegari" in his honor.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Melegari, Luigi Amedeo. In: C. Donzelli (Ed.): L'Unificazione italiana. Treccani, Milan 2011.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Melegari, Luigi Amedeo, Pompeo. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani . Volume 73, 2009.