Ruggero Settimo

Ruggero Settimo ( born May 19, 1778 in Palermo, † May 12 1863 in Malta) was a Sicilian Prince ( Principe di Fitalia ) and ministers as well as an Italian patriot and politician.

Life

Settimo had occurred in 1791 in the Naval Academy in Naples and, after completion of training various commands in the Bourbon fleet. In accordance with his liberal views he advocated the introduction of a Constitution, at the draft he had cooperated. After their promulgation in 1812, he was Secretary of the Navy, 1814 Minister of War. With the beginning of the Restoration in 1815 he resigned from his position and retired into private life. During the Sicilian uprising of 1820 he was a member of the Provisional Government ( Giunta provvisoria ). In 1848 he led during the March Revolution in a popular uprising in Palermo and then ran for 16 months, the revolutionary government of the independent of the Bourbons in Naples Sicily. After the defeat of the Republic, he fled to Malta. In 1860, he welcomed the Sicilian annexation to Italy. After the unification of Italy, he was appointed Senatore del Regno and the Senate President, but he returned for health reasons not return to Italy.

His body was transferred to Palermo and in the church of San Domenico, in which he had opened in 1848, the Sicilian Parliament, buried. The grave monument is the work of sculptor Salvatore Valenti and Domenico Costantino. The monument on Piazza Ruggero Settimo was created by Benedetto De Lisi.