Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour
Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour (1810-61). Italian ‘statesman, born into an old aristocratic family of Piedmont. As a young man he travelled widely in Europe and deveroped strong liberal views. He was prime minister of Piedmont (1852-59; 1860-61) and campaigned for Italian unity, seeking French and British sympathy for his cause by sending troops to fight in the Crimean War. With French support he liberated Italy from Austrian domination (1859); a year later, following Garibaldi’s successful campaign against the Neapolitan monarchy, he succeeded in unifying Italy under Victor Emmanuel II and the House of Savoy.
