Urbano Pio Francesco Rattazzi (29 June 1808 – 5 June 1873) was an Italian lawyer and politician prominent during the Risorgimento and the early years of the Kingdom of Italy. He played a leading role in parliamentary life as a member of the moderate Historical Left, serving repeatedly as a deputy, president of the Chamber of Deputies and twice as head of government. His career illustrates the tensions between liberal parliamentary procedure and the revolutionary impulses that continued to shape Italian unification.
Early life and education
Rattazzi was born in Alessandria, in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy then part of the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont). He read law at the University of Turin (Turin) and entered the legal profession in the 1830s. After establishing himself as an advocate, he moved into active politics at the time of the 1848 revolutions and the rising movement for constitutional government. In 1848 he was elected as a deputy to the Sardinian parliament (Kingdom of Sardinia), beginning a long legislative career.
Political career and offices
Rattazzi became known for his parliamentary skill and moderate reformism. He presided over the Chamber of Deputies on three separate occasions: twice under the Kingdom of Sardinia and once after Italian unification under the Kingdom of Italy. His third term as president of the lower house began in February 1861 and continued into early 1862 (President of the Chamber).
- Deputy in Sardinian and Italian parliaments
- President of the Chamber of Deputies (multiple terms)
- Prime Minister of Italy: March–December 1862 and April–October 1867
- Holder of several ministerial portfolios at different times
Role in the unification and the Garibaldi episode
Rattazzi's governments governed during a delicate phase when Italy was being consolidated but Rome remained under papal and French protection. He sought to uphold legal order and the authority of the parliamentary state, a stance that brought him into conflict with revolutionary figures. The most notable crisis occurred when Giuseppe Garibaldi attempted an unauthorized march on Rome in 1862. Rattazzi ordered measures to stop the expedition; the encounter at Aspromonte and the subsequent handling of Garibaldi produced intense public debate and political opposition. The aftermath weakened his position and contributed to his resignation as head of government (resignation).
Later life and legacy
After a final period in office in 1867, Rattazzi gradually withdrew from frontline politics. He continued to influence parliamentary life as an elder statesman and held ministerial duties at various times before retiring. He died in Frosinone in 1873. Rattazzi's legacy is that of a skilled parliamentary leader who sought to reconcile liberal reform with institutional stability during Italy's transition from regional states to a unified kingdom. His private life connected him to European dynastic circles: his wife, Maria Wyse Bonaparte, was a granddaughter of Lucien Bonaparte and thus a grandniece of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Notable facts:
- Rattazzi chaired the Chamber of Deputies before and after Italian unification, linking Sardinian and Italian legislatures.
- He belonged to the Historical Left, a moderate current that emphasized legal reform and parliamentary methods rather than insurrectionary tactics.
- The Garibaldi episode remains the best-known controversy of his career, exemplifying the clash between revolution and state-building in mid-19th-century Italy.
For further reading on Rattazzi’s parliamentary activity and the political context of the 1850s–1860s, consult biographies and histories of the Italian unification movement and the early Kingdom of Italy (biographical overview, Sardinian parliament, legislative records).