Filippo Cordova
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Filippo Cordova | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Justice | |
| In office 3 March 1862 – 7 April 1862 | |
| Prime Minister | Urbano Rattazzi |
| Preceded by | Vincenzo Maria Miglietti |
| Succeeded by | Raffaele Conforti |
| In office 24 March 1867 – 10 April 1867 | |
| Prime Minister | Bettino Ricasoli |
| Preceded by | Bettino Ricasoli |
| Succeeded by | Sebastiano Tecchio |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| In office 12 June 1861 – 3 March 1862 | |
| Prime Minister | Bettino Ricasoli |
| Preceded by | Giuseppe Natoli |
| Succeeded by | Gioacchino Napoleone Pepoli |
| In office 20 June 1866 – 10 April 1867 | |
| Prime Minister | Bettino Ricasoli |
| Preceded by | Domenico Berti |
| Succeeded by | Francesco De Blasiis |
| Member of Parliament[1] | |
| In office 18 February 1861 – 16 September 1868 | |
Filippo Cordova (Aidone, 1 May 1811 – Florence, 16 September 1868) was an Italian patriot, jurist and politician.[2][3]
He was born into a family whose ancestry included the Baron of Villa Orlando Boscarini, and he descended from the Spanish general and statesman Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.[4] He showed a certain precociousness from childhood; at the age of ten he composed three tragedies (Cato, Giovanni and I Dittinali) and a sonnet in honor of Saint Lawrence, patron saint of his hometown.[2][3][4]
He graduated in Catania with a degree in law and geology and in 1831 entered the office of the lawyer Antonio Agnetta in Palermo, where he met several patriots, including Michele Amari, Vincenzo Fardella di Torrearsa and Ruggero Settimo.[2][3]
Helped by his uncle-cousin Gaetano Scovazzo-Cordova in 1838 he participated in the "Scientific Congress of Clermont-Ferrand " and made himself known in the Académie Française.[2][3]
Appointed councilor of stewardship in Caltanissetta, in 1839 he made a study of feudal tithes in Sicily and in 1841 he participated in the "Scientific Congress" in Naples.[2][3] Through the Prince of Canino he became a freemason and in 1860 in Turin, through his friendship with in relation to his friendship with Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour he became one of the leaders of the Ausonia lodge, which had the objective of the Unification of Italy with Rome as its capital: he then became a leader of the Grand Orient of Italy, assuming the position of grand master on 1 March 1862.[4] The following year he took part in the Masonic Constituent Assembly of Florence.[5]
Cordova's role in the events of 1848
In January 1848, when Sicily rebelled against the Bourbons, he was secretary of the provincial revolutionary committee and was elected deputy to the "House of Commons" in March. He took care of the drafting of the Sicilian statute. On 13 August the Sicilian head of state, Ruggero Settimo, appointed him finance minister in the government led by the Marquis Torrearsa.[2][3]
Filippo Cordova devised a "mixed committee" that would take the most important decisions for the new Sicilian state. As minister he proposed the introduction of paper money with the creation of the Banco di Sicilia. By decree he established that ecclesiastical goods and church silverware were to be pledged for loans to the state;[2] he also abolished the hated tax on ground coffee which particularly burdened the poorest sections of the population.[4] The radical nature of his proposals, which aimed to transform Sicily’s great landed estates with the creation of many small landowners, was opposed by the nobles in the Sicilian parliament and by the clergy.[2][3]
He drafted the document which sanctioned the deposition of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies and supported the offer of the crown to Ferdinand of Savoy-Genoa.[4]
To raise funds for the war against the Bourbons he proposed a forced mortgage, based on agreements made with a French bank by Michele Amari, stirring clear opposition from the nobles. He was forced to resign.[2]