Bettino Ricasoli

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Bettino Ricasoli

Formal portrait

1860–70

In office

20 June 1866 – 10 April 1867

Monarch

Preceded by

Succeeded by

In office

12 June 1861 – 3 March 1862

Monarch

Victor Emmanuel II

Preceded by

Succeeded by

Urbano Rattazzi

In office

18 February 1861 – 23 October 1880

Constituency

In office

13 December 1847 – 16 November 1848

Monarch

Preceded by

Succeeded by

Personal details

Born

9 March 1809

Died

23 October 1880

(aged 71)

Spouse

Anna Bonaccorsi

Children

Elisabetta

Education

Profession

Signature

Bettino Ricasoli, 1st Count of Brolio, 2nd Baron Ricasoli

(

Italian

pronunciation:

; 9 March 1809 – 23 October 1880) was an

He was a central figure in the politics of Italy during

and after the

. He led the

Biography

[

]

Ricasoli was born in

. Left an orphan at eighteen, with an estate

heavily in debt, he was by special decree of the grand duke of Tuscany

declared of age and entrusted with the guardianship of his younger brothers.

He was Catholic.

Interrupting his studies, he withdrew to

, and by careful management

disencumbered the family possessions. In 1847 he founded the journal

Patria

, and addressed to the grand duke a memorial suggesting remedies for the

difficulties of the state. In 1848 he was elected

Gonfaloniere

but resigned on account of the anti-Liberal tendencies of the grand duke.

As Tuscan minister of the interior in 1859 he promoted the union of Tuscany

with

, which took place on March 12, 1860. Elected Italian deputy in

1861, he succeeded

in the

. As premier he admitted the

volunteers to the regular army, revoked the decree of exile

against

, and attempted reconciliation with the

; but his

efforts were rendered ineffectual by the

of the pope.

Disdainful of the intrigues of his rival

, he found himself obliged in

1862 to resign office, but returned to power in 1866. On this occasion he

refused

's offer to cede

to Italy, on condition that Italy

should abandon the

alliance, and also refused the Prussian decoration

of the Black Eagle because

, author of the alliance, was not to

receive it.

Upon the departure of the French troops from Rome at the end of 1866 he again

attempted to conciliate the Vatican with a convention, in virtue of which

Italy would have restored to the Church the property of the suppressed

religious orders in return for the gradual payment of 24,000,000. In order to

mollify the Vatican he conceded the

to forty-five bishops inimical

to the Italian régime. The Vatican accepted his proposal, but the Italian

Chamber proved refractory, and, though dissolved by Ricasoli, returned more

hostile than before. Without waiting for a vote, Ricasoli resigned office and

thenceforward practically disappeared from political life, speaking in the

Chamber only upon rare occasions. He died at his

on 23

October 1880.

The barone created the modern recipe of

; though a formula of

specific grape percentages is often erroneously attributed to him, his switch

in focus to Sangiovese as the lead grape in the blend would have lasting

implications for both Tuscan and Italian wine. The family named firm (Ricasoli

1141) still produces wine at Brolio.

His private life and public career were marked by the utmost integrity, and by

a rigid austerity which earned him the name of the

Iron Baron

. In spite of

the failure of his ecclesiastical scheme, he remains one of the most

noteworthy figures of the Italian