Francesco Crispi

Francesco Crispi ( born October 4, 1819 in Ribera, Sicily, † August 11, 1901 in Naples) was an Italian revolutionary, statesman and politician. During his tenure as prime minister, he pushed especially the colonial expansion of his country.

Biography

Francesco Crispi was born in Ribera, Sicily. He was the son of a Arbëresh family, the long-established Albanian minority in Italy, which fled from the Ottomans in the late 15th century in Italy.

Crispi had to spend in Piedmont for their involvement in the revolution of 1848 in Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies eleven years in exile. He was also active as a journalist. During this time his attitude changed from the requirement for a Sicilian autonomy to support a pan- Italian national state. 1853 Crispi was accused of being involved in riots in Milan, after which he fled to Malta, London and Paris. After his return in 1859 he organized on behalf of Mazzini in Sicily a successful revolt against the Bourbon king Francis II and created the conditions for Garibaldi's " train of a Thousand". He supported the port of Naples and Sicily to Piedmont to form the Kingdom of Italy in 1860 and heard, so that although he supported the monarchy, the parliament of the new state as a representative of the radical left and took over twice the Office of the Minister of the Interior. From 1876 to 1877 he was also president of the Chamber of Deputies. 1878 Crispi had to retire for a short time from the policy because he accused of bigamy, but was acquitted. From 1887 he was with two interruptions until 1896 Prime Minister; at the same time he also held the function of the Minister of Foreign Affairs between July 1887 and February 1881.

Crispi ruled authoritarian face of a divided and weakened by scandals opposition and suppressed especially the working class. In 1893 he was involved in a scandal over the Banca Roma. His domestic policy was marked by tax increases and austerity measures. In foreign policy oriented Crispi on the German Reich and propagated a resolute colonial policy, but the conquest of Abyssinia in the Italian- Ethiopian war failed. After the defeat against the army Menileks at Adua in 1896 Crispi became personally for this "national disgrace " blamed and had to resign. Then he wrote his memoirs, in which he justified his policy. Crispi died on August 11, 1901 in Naples.

His body was first embalmed by taxidermists from Naples, but their methods were found to be inadequate. A year later, the chemist Alfredo Salafia received an order to save the body, which he succeeded in several months of work. He could also restore the facial features Crispis by paraffin injections. His body is regarded as a significant mummy of the 20th century due to the innovative method of preservation Salafias.