Giuseppe Montanelli was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

 and author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

.

Biography

Montanelli was born at Fucecchio

Fucecchio

Fucecchio is a town and comune of the province of Firenze in the Italian region of Tuscany. The main economical resources of the city are the leather industries, shoes industry and other manufacturing activities, although in the recent years their number has been decreasing because of a slight...

, then part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Grand Duchy of Tuscany

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a central Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence...

, and in 1840 was appointed law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 professor at Pisa

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

.

He contributed to the Antologia, a celebrated Florentine review, and in 1847 founded a newspaper called L'Italia, the programme of which was "Reform and Nationality." In 1848 Montanelli served with the Tuscan student volunteers at the battle of Curtatone, where he was wounded and taken prisoner by the Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

ns.

On being liberated he returned to Tuscany, and the grand duke Leopold II

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...

, knowing that he was popular with the masses, sent him to Livorno

Livorno

Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...

 to quell the disturbances. In October, Leopold, much against his inclinations, asked him to form a ministry. He accepted, and on January 10, 1849, induced the grand duke to establish a national constituent assembly

Constituent assembly

A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...

. But Leopold, alarmed at the turn affairs were taking, fled from Florence, and Montanelli, Guerrazzi

Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi

Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi was an Italian writer and politician involved in the Italian risorgimento.-Biography:...

 and Mazzini

Giuseppe Mazzini

Giuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...

 were elected "triumvirs" of Tuscany. Like Mazzini, Montanelli advocated the union of Tuscany with Rome. But after the restoration of the grand duke, Montanelli, who was in Paris, was tried and condemned by default; he remained some years in France, where he became a partizan of Napoleon III. On the formation of the Kingdom of Italy he returned to Tuscany and was elected member of parliament.

Montanelli died at Fucecchio in 1862.

His grandson Indro Montanelli

Indro Montanelli

Indro Montanelli was an Italian journalist and historian, known for his new approach to writing history in books such as History of the Greeks and History of Rome....

was a leading figure of Italian journalism during the 20th century.

Works

• Memorie sui l'Italia e specialmente sulla Toscana dat 1814 at 1850 (1853)
• Il Partito nazionale italiano (1856)
• L'Impero, il papato, e la democrazia in Italia (1859)
• Dell' ordinamento nazionale in Italia (1862)
• La Tentazione (poem)
• Camma (tragedy)