Paolo Boselli

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Paolo Boselli

| image = Paolo Boselli, dal 1858 al 1932 - Accademia delle Scienze di Torino 0043 B.jpg

| order = Prime Minister of Italy

| monarch = Victor Emmanuel III

| term_start = 18 June 1916

| term_end = 29 October 1917

| predecessor = Antonio Salandra

| successor = Vittorio Emanuele Orlando

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1838|6|8|df=y}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|3|10|1838|6|8|df=y}}

| birth_place = Savona, Kingdom of Sardinia

| death_place = Rome, Kingdom of Italy

| party = Italian Liberal Party

}}

Paolo Boselli ({{IPA|it|ˈpaolo boˈzɛlli|lang}}; 8 June 1838 – 10 March 1932) was an Italian politician who served as the 34th prime minister of Italy during World War I.{{Cite news |date=1932-03-11 |title=Former Italian Premier Dies: Paolo Boselli Was official During War Time |pages=10 |work=The Billings Gazette |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-billings-gazette-obituary-for-paolo/137946516/ |access-date=2024-01-03}}

Biography

Boselli was born in Savona, Liguria. Boselli was the first professor of science at the University of Rome prior to entering politics.{{Cite book |last=Publishing |first=Britannica Educational |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XbybAAAAQBAJ&dq=%2522Paolo%2520Boselli%2522%2520-wikipedia&pg=PA161 |title=World War I: People, Politics, and Power |date=2009-10-01 |publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing |isbn=978-1-61530-048-8 |pages=161 |language=en}} He served for 51 years as a liberal rightist parliamentary deputy, and as a senator from 1921. Appointed Minister of Education in 1888, Boselli reorganised the Bank of Italy with his next portfolio, as Minister of the Treasury in 1899. He also served in Sidney Sonnino's 1906 government.

In June 1916, he was a relatively undistinguished center-right politician and one of the oldest members of the Italian parliament, when he was appointed prime minister, following the collapse of the Salandra government as a result of military defeats.{{Cite book |last1=Gilbert |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPn2DwAAQBAJ&dq=%2522Paolo%2520Boselli%2522%2520-wikipedia&pg=PA67 |title=Historical Dictionary of Modern Italy |last2=Moneta |first2=Sara Lamberti |date=2020-10-01 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-0254-1 |language=en}} Boselli formed an ideologically broad coalition composed of one Catholic, one republican, two reformist socialists, two radicals, five left-wing liberals, and six conservative-liberals.[https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Italy_from_Liberalism_to_Fascism/pkb3EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=The+new+Prime+Minister+was+Paolo+Boselli,+aged+seventy-eight,+%E2%80%98father%E2%80%99&pg=PT450&printsec=frontcover Italy from Liberalism to Fascism 1870-1925 By Christopher Seton-Watson, 2024]

His government fell in October 1917 as a result of the military defeat in the Battle of Caporetto, in which Italy lost some 800,000 men, all of the conquest made so far in World War I, as well as Friuli and parts of the Veneto. Boselli had been a strong supporter of commander-in-chief Luigi Cadorna, who was also fired in the aftermath of Caporetto.

During Boselli's time as prime minister, a decree of August 1917 extended the principle of compulsory insurance against accidents to agricultural workers generally. He died in Rome on 10 March 1932, and was buried in Turin.

References

External links

Vanda Wilcox: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/boselli_paolo/ Boselli, Paolo], in: [https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/home.html/ 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War].

{{Succession box|title=Prime Minister of Italy|before=Antonio Salandra|after=Vittorio Emanuele Orlando|years=1916–1917}}

Category:1838 births

Category:1932 deaths

Category:People from Savona

Category:People from the Kingdom of Sardinia

Category:Politicians of Liguria

Category:Historical Right politicians

Category:Liberal Union (Italy) politicians

Category:Italian Liberal Party politicians

Category:National Fascist Party politicians

Category:Prime ministers of Italy

Category:Ministers of finance of Italy