Francesco Crispi

Francesco Crispi (Ribera, October 4, 1819 – Naples, August 11, 1901) is an Italian politician from Sicily.

He is among the main protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento and a close friend and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and one of the architects of the unification of Italy in 1860.

He is Italy's Prime Minister for six years, from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896.

Crispi is internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Bismarck, Gladstone and Salisbury.

Originally an enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal, he goes on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister and ally and admirer of Bismarck.

His career endes amid controversy and failure: he gets involved in a major banking scandal and falls from power in 1896 after a devastating colonial defeat in Africa.

He is often seen as a precursor of Benito Mussolini.

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