His Excellency Francesco Crispi OSSA, OSML, OCI, OMS |
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11th Prime Minister of Italy | |
In office 15 December 1893 – 10 March 1896 |
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Monarch | Umberto I |
Preceded by | Giovanni Giolitti |
Succeeded by | Antonio Starabba |
In office 29 July 1887 – 6 February 1891 |
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Monarch | Umberto I |
Preceded by | Agostino Depretis |
Succeeded by | Antonio Starabba |
President of the Chamber of Deputies | |
In office 26 November 1876 – 26 December 1877 |
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Preceded by | Giuseppe Branchieri |
Succeeded by | Benedetto Cairoli |
Minister of the Interior | |
In office 15 December 1893 – 9 March 1896 |
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Prime Minister | Himself |
Preceded by | Giovanni Giolitti |
Succeeded by | Antonio Starabba |
In office 4 April 1887 – 6 February 1891 |
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Prime Minister |
Agostino Depretis Himself |
Preceded by | Agostino Depretis |
Succeeded by | Giovanni Nicotera |
In office 26 December 1877 – 7 March 1878 |
|
Prime Minister | Agostino Depretis |
Preceded by | Giovanni Nicotera |
Succeeded by | Agostino Depretis |
Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
In office 29 July 1887 – 6 February 1891 |
|
Prime Minister | Himself |
Preceded by | Agostino Depretis |
Succeeded by | Antonio Starabba |
Personal details | |
Born |
Ribera, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies |
October 4, 1818
Died | August 12, 1901 Naples, Kingdom of Italy |
(aged 82)
Nationality | Italian |
Political party |
Historical Left (1848–1883; 1886–1901) Dissident Left (1883–1886) |
Spouse(s) |
Rosina D'Angelo (m. 1837–39); her death Rosalia Montmasson (m. 1854–78); divorced Lina Barbagallo (m. 1878–1901); his death |
Children | Giuseppa Tommaso Luigi |
Alma mater | University of Palermo |
Profession | |
Religion | Greek Catholicism |
Francesco Crispi (4 October 1818 – 12 August 1901) was an Italian patriot and statesman. He was among the main protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento and a close friend and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and one of the architects of the unification of Italy in 1860.
Crispi served as Italy's Prime Minister for six years, from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896; he was the first Prime Minister from Southern Italy. Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Bismarck, Gladstone and Salisbury.
Originally an enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal he went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister and ally and admirer of Bismarck. His career ended amid controversy and failure: he got involved in a major banking scandal and fell from power in 1896 after the devastating loss of the Battle of Adwa, which repelled Italy's colonial ambitions over Ethiopia.
Due to his authoritarian policies and style, Crispi is often regarded as a strongman and seen as a precursor of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Crispi’s paternal family came originally from the small agricultural community of Palazzo Adriano, in south-western Sicily. It had been founded in later fifteenth century by Orthodox Albanians (Arbëreshë), who settled in Sicily after the Ottoman occupation of Albania. His grandfather was an Arbëreshë Orthodox priest; the parish priests were married men, and Arbëreshë was the family language down to the lifetime of the young Crispi. Crispi himself was born in Ribera, Sicily, to Tommaso Crispi, a grain merchant and Giuseppa Genova from Ribera; he was baptised as a Greek Catholic. Belonging to a family of Arbëreshë descent, he spoke Italian as his third or fourth language. His uncle Giuseppe wrote the first monograph on the Albanian language.