Ferdinando Martini

{{Infobox writer

| name = Ferdinando Martini

| image = Ferdinando Martini, nuovo ministro dell’Istruzione Pubblica (xilografia).jpg

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1840|07|30|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Florence, Tuscany, Italy

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1928|04|24|1840|07|30|df=yes}}

| death_place = Monsummano Terme, Tuscany, Italy

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| occupation = Writer, editor, politician

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{{Infobox officeholder

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| office1 = Parliamentarian of the Kingdom of Italy

| term_start1 = {{start date|1876|df=yes}}

| term_end1 = {{start date|1919|df=yes}}

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| office2 = Minister of the Colonies

| term_start2 = {{start date|1914|03|21|df=yes}}

| term_end2 = {{start date|1916|06|18|df=yes}}

| primeminister2= Antonio Salandra

| predecessor2 = Pietro Bertolini

| successor2 = Gaspare Colosimo

| office3 = Minister of Public Education

| term_start3 = {{start date|1892|05|15|df=yes}}

| term_end3 = {{start date|1893|12|15|df=yes}}

| primeminister3= Giovanni Giolitti

| predecessor3 = Pasquale Villari

| successor3 = Guido Baccelli

| office4 = Governor of Eritrea

| term_start4 = {{start date|1897|12|16|df=yes}}

| term_end4 = {{start date|1907|03|25|df=yes}}

| predecessor4 = Antonio Baldissera

| successor4 = Giuseppe Salvago Raggi

| office5 = Senator of the Kingdom of Italy

| term_start5 = {{start date|1923|03|01|df=yes}}

| term_end5 = {{start date|1928|04|28|df=yes}}

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Ferdinando Martini (30 July 1840 – 24 April 1928) was an Italian writer and politician. He was governor of Eritrea for from late 1897 to early 1907.

Biography

Born in Florence, he worked as journalist and writer. He collaborated with Il Fanfulla and in 1879 he founded the Fanfulla della domenica literary supplement, for which he was editor until 1882; he was also editor of La Domenica letteraria from 1882 until 1885 and professor at the University of Pisa. He founded Giornale per i bambini in 1881 and was its editor until 1883.

In 1876 he was elected to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy, a position he held for 43 years. He was Minister of the Colonies in the Salandra I and Salandra II cabinets, and Minister of the Public Instruction in the first Giolitti cabinet. Martini was also governor of Eritrea from 1897 to 1907, a country that received{{Clarify|date=February 2025|reason=the name was proclaimed in Italy by Umberto I}} the name from him.

On 1 March 1923 he was appointed to the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy. In 1925 he was one of the signers of Giovanni Gentile's Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals.

In 1920 he wrote his famous literary masterpiece, about his years as governor of Eritrea:Il Diario Eritreo.Martini Ferdinando. "Il Diario Eritreo" (with his photo)[https://www.amazon.it/DIARIO-ERITREO-1897-1907-MARTINI-Ferdinando/dp/B01N49X2DA]

He died at Monsummano Terme in 1928.

Awards

100px Cavaliere dell' Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro
100px Commendatore dell' Ordine della Corona d'Italia
100px Cavaliere dell' Ordine Civile di Savoia

Literary works

Chi sa il gioco non l'insegni. Proverbio in un atto in versi, Pisa, 1871
Ad una donna. Versi, Venezia, Visentini, 1872
Il primo passo e' quello dell' uscio. Milano, 1874.
Fra un sigaro e l'altro: chiacchiere di Fantasio, Milano, G. Brigola, 1876
Cose africane, da Saati ad Abba Carima, discorsi e scritti, Milano, F.lli Treves, 1896
Confessioni e ricordi, Firenze, Bemporad, 1922 (e successive edizioni)
Lettere (1860-1928), Milano, Mondadori, 1934
Nell'Affrica italiana, Milano, Treves, 1891
Il Quarantotto in Toscana. Firenze, Bemporad, 1918.
Il Diario Eritreo. Roma. Vallecchi editore. 1920.
A Pieriposa, novella antica. Milano, Treves, 1923.