Silvio Spaventa
Silvio Spaventa | |
---|---|
Member of the Italian Senate | |
In office 30 May 1886 – 23 November 1890 | |
Constituency | Naples |
Personal details | |
Born | Bomba, Abruzzo, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies | 12 May 1822
Died | 20 June 1893 Rome, Kingdom of Italy | (aged 71)
Nationality | Italian |
Political party | Historical Right |
Parent(s) | Eustachio Spaventa and Maria Anna Croce |
Relatives | Bertrando Spaventa (brother) Benedetto Croce (nephew) |
Profession | Journalist, politician, tutor |
Silvio Spaventa (12 May 1822 – 20 June 1893) was an Italian journalist, politician and statesman who played a leading role in the unification of Italy, and subsequently held important positions within the newly formed Italian state.
Early life
Younger brother of the Italian philosopher Bertrando Spaventa,[1] Silvio was born into a middle-class family of limited means.[2] His mother, Maria Anna Croce, was the great-aunt of philosopher Benedetto Croce.[3] When Croce's parents died in an earthquake, in 1883, Silvio became his guardian, an experience that had a deep influence on Croce.[4]
In 1836, Silvio joined his brother at the Diocesan Seminary in
In 1843, he moved to Naples to work as tutor to the children of the magistrate Benedetto Croce, his maternal uncle, and grandfather of the famous philosopher of the same name. Like his elder brother, Silvio became interested in liberalism and the thought of
Spaventa was elected to parliament, where he joined the effort to give Neapolitan patriotism a national dimension. This included lending strong support to the sending of troops of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to fight in the First Italian War of Independence.[14]
Exile
Shortly after granting the constitution, the Bourbon king of Naples,
Political activity after Italian unification
In July 1860, Spaventa was sent to Naples by Cavour and the Savoy monarchy (who were already planning an invasion of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, possibly under the leadership of Garibaldi). His mandate was to prepare for the annexation of the South of Italy to the future Kingdom of Italy. He unsuccessfully tried to achieve this without waiting for Garibaldi to reach Naples. On arriving there, Garibaldi, adopting the title of Dictator[18] expelled Spaventa from the city on 25 September. He returned in October to take up the post of Minister for Police in the provisional[18] government (from November 1860 to July 1861), dealing vigorously with the difficult situation in the city, at times with the help of Rodrigo Nolli, a landowner from the same region of Italy as Spaventa.
Silvio Spaventa was a member of the Chamber of Deputies, for the
Silvio Spaventa became a Senator in 1889 and, through the good offices of
Political and philosophical thought
There is evidence[20] that Silvio was the first to propose that “classical” German philosophy descended directly from Italian philosophy of the 16th century. This idea was to become of key importance in Bertrando Spaventa's Hegelian theory of history and the state.
Strongly influence by
Spaventa died in Rome on 20 June 1893. He was given a state funeral and buried in the cemetery of Verano in Rome.
Main works
- La politica della Destra, writings and speeches, ed. Benedetto Croce, Laterza, Bari 1910;
- Dal 1848 al 1861. Lettere scritti documenti, ed. Benedetto Croce, Bari 1923;
- Lettere politiche (1861-1893), ed. G. Castellano, Laterza, Bari, 1926.
Bibliography
- R. De Cesare, Silvio Spaventa e I suoi tempi, in Nuova Antologia, Vol. XLVI, Florence 1893;
- Bertrando Spaventa, Scritti filosofici, ed. G. Gentile, Ditta A. Morano & Figlio, Napoli, 1901;
- Paolo Romano, Silvio Spaventa, biografia politica, Laterza, Bari, 1942;
- Giulio M. Chiodi, La giustizia amministrativa nel pensiero politico di Silvio Spaventa, Laterza, Bari 1969;
- Elena Croce, Silvio Spaventa, Adelphi, Milan 1969;
- Saverio Ricci, Silvio Spaventa, Rivista Bergomum, LXXX, Bergamo 1990;
- Domenico Losurdo, Dai fratelli Spaventa a Gramsci, La Città del Sole, Naples 1997.
- Luigi Gentile, Coscienza nazionale e pensiero europeo in Bertrando Spaventa, Edizioni Noubs, Chieti 2000;
- Raffaele Aurini, Spaventa Silvio, in Dizionario bibliografico della gente d'Abruzzo, Ars et Labor, Teramo 1958, now in Nuova Edizione, Andromeda editrice, Colledara 2002;
- Carlo Ghisalberti, Silvio Spaventa tra Risorgimento e stato unitario, Vivarium, 2003.
Notes
- ^ Bertrando Spaventa, p. XXI
- ^ De Cesare, p. 31
- ^ a b "Comune of Bomba website". Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ "Silvio Spaventa". Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ Bertrando Spaventa, p. XXII
- ^ Luigi Gentile, pp.12-13
- ^ Dentice di Accadia, Cecilia, Il bello della natura di A. Tari, in La Critica, Napoli 1923-26
- ^ Imalio, A., De Sanctis, Settembrini, Tari, ecc., in Irpinia, n.1-3, Avellino, 1933
- ^ Serpico, A., Antonio Tari, in Rass. Stor. Dei Com., n. 5-6, Napoli, 1981
- ^ De Cesare, p. 11
- ^ Sciocchetti, G. "Silvio Spaventa" (in Italian). Ass. Abruzzese di Roma. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
- ^ "Silvio Spaventa". Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ De Cesare, p. 14
- ^ De Cesare, p. 12
- ^ Luigi Gentile, p. 39
- ^ a b Bompiani, S. (27 July 1893). "Modern Heroes". The Interior. p. 8. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ a b "Silvio Spaventa".
- ^ a b "Silvio Spaventa".
- ^ Spaventa, Silvio. "Speech on justice in government" (PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ^ Luigi Gentile, pp. 71-2
- ^ Sciocchetti, G. "Silvio Spaventa". Ass. Abruzzese di Roma. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
External links
- [1], [2] Information on website of Comune of Bomba (in Italian)