Camillo Benso, count di Cavour

Introduction
Family and early life
Development of political ideals
Statesman
Unification of Italy

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Images

Camillo Benso, count di Cavour, detail of an oil painting by Francesco Hayez; in the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

At a Glance

Camillo Benso, count di Cavour summary

Related Questions

How did Austria’s 1859 ultimatum to Piedmont help Camillo Benso, count di Cavour achieve his war aims?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour become involved in business and agriculture?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour change Piedmont’s economic policy?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour encourage railroad construction in Piedmont?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour help bring Sicily and Naples into the Kingdom of Italy?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour propose to separate the Catholic Church from the Italian state?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour respond to Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour use commercial treaties with France, Belgium, and Britain?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour’s conflict with Charles Albert affect his political career?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour’s reforms reduce the political power of the Catholic Church in Piedmont?
How did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour’s views differ from those of revolutionaries and reactionaries?
How did plebiscites help Camillo Benso, count di Cavour annex central Italian states to Piedmont?
How did the Battle of Magenta contribute to Piedmont’s acquisition of Lombardy?
How did the French Revolution of 1830 influence Camillo Benso, count di Cavour?
How did the Plombières agreement lead to the Second Italian War of Independence?
How did the connubio help Camillo Benso, count di Cavour become prime minister in 1852?
How did the revolutions in Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and Romagna assist Italian unification?
What agreement did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour make with Napoleon III at Plombières in 1858?
What did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour accomplish at the Congress of Paris in 1856?
What did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour learn during his visits to Paris and London?
What problems did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour leave unresolved when he died in 1861?
What role did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour play in the granting of Piedmont’s liberal constitution?
What territories did Piedmont gain after the peace settlement of 1859?
When did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour die?
When was Camillo Benso, count di Cavour, born?
When was Camillo Benso, count di Cavour first elected to the Piedmontese Parliament?
When was the Kingdom of Italy proclaimed under Victor Emmanuel II?
Where did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour receive his military education?
Where was Camillo Benso, count di Cavour born?
Which battles helped the Franco-Piedmontese alliance defeat Austria in 1859?
Why did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour argue that Rome should become Italy’s capital?
Why did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour believe that French support was necessary against Austria?
Why did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour fear that Garibaldi’s victories could lead to a republican revolution?
Why did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour found the newspaper Il Risorgimento?
Why did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour leave the Piedmontese army in 1831?
Why did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour order the invasion of Umbria and the Marche in 1860?
Why did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour resign during the dispute over dissolving monasteries in 1855?
Why did Camillo Benso, count di Cavour send Piedmontese troops to the Crimean War?
Why is Camillo Benso, count di Cavour considered a leading figure of the Italian Risorgimento?
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External Websites

Age of the Sage - Transmitting the Wisdoms of the Ages - Biography of Cavour

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Camillo Cavour - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Camillo Benso, count di Cavour

Piedmontese statesman

Written by

Umberto Marcelli

Former Lecturer in History, University of Bologna, Italy. Author of Cavour diplomatico.

Umberto Marcelli

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Camillo Benso, count di Cavour (born August 10, 1810, Turin, Piedmont, French Empire—died June 6, 1861, Turin, Italy) was a Piedmontese statesman, a conservative whose exploitation of international rivalries and of revolutionary movements brought about the unification of Italy (1861) under the House of Savoy, with himself as the first prime minister of the new kingdom. The Cavours were an ancient family that had served the House of Savoy as soldiers and officials since the...

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