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Massimo d'Azeglio

The Honourable Grace
Massimo d'Azeglio
OSML, MOS, COS, LH
Massimo d'Azeglio.jpg
Portrait of D'Azeglio by Francesco Gonin (1850)
Senator of the Kingdom of Italy
In office
20 October 1853 – 15 January 1866
Monarch Victor Emmanuel II
Prime Minister of Sardinia
In office
7 May 1849 – 4 November 1852
Monarch Victor Emmanuel II
Preceded by Claudio Gabriele de Launay
Succeeded by The Count of Cavour
Member of the Sardinian Chamber of Deputies
In office
8 May 1848 – 20 October 1853
Constituency Strambino
Personal details
Born (1798-10-24)24 October 1798
Turin, Sardinia
Died 15 January 1866(1866-01-15) (aged 67)
Turin, Italy
Political party Historical Right
Spouse(s) Giulia Manzoni (m. 1831; her d. 1834)
Children Alessandra
Parents Cesare Tapanelli and Cristina Morozzo
Alma mater University of Turin
Profession Soldier, writer, painter
Religion Roman Catholicism
Military service
Service/branch  Sardinia Army
Years of service 1815; 1848–1849
Rank Colonel
Unit 2nd Cavalry Regiment
Battles/wars 1st Italian War of Independence

Massimo Taparelli, Marquess of Azeglio ([ˈmassimo tapaˈrɛlli dadˈdzeʎʎo]) (24 October 1798 – 15 January 1866), commonly called Massimo d'Azeglio, was a Piedmontese-Italian statesman, novelist and painter. He was Prime Minister of Sardinia for almost three years, until his rival Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour succeeded him. D'Azeglio was not a liberal or a republican, but a paternal conservative who hoped for a federal union between Italian states. As Prime Minister, he consolidated the parliamentary system, getting the young king to accept his constitutional status. Azeglio worked hard for a peace treaty with Austria, and reduction of the power of the Catholic Church in local affairs. He introduced freedom of worship, abolish Religious censorship, and took control of schools away from the Church. He was bored with government, but passionate about painting. One role he performed with great difficulty was maintaining control over a boorish king whose chief passions were hunting, philandering, and posturing as a military genius.

Massimo Taparelli, Marquis d'Azeglio, was born in Turin on 24 October 1798. He was descended from an ancient and noble Piedmontese family. His father, Cesare d'Azeglio, an officer in the Piedmontese army, held a high position at court. On the return of Pope Pius VII to Rome after the fall of Napoleon, Cesare was sent as special envoy to the Holy See and took his son, then sixteen years of age, with him as an extra attaché. Young Massimo was given a commission in a cavalry regiment, which he soon relinquished on account of his health. During his residence in Rome, Massimo acquired a love for art and music and decided to become a painter, to the horror of his conservative, aristocratic family. His father reluctantly consented, and Massimo settled in Rome, devoting himself to art.


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