Count Camillo di Cavour
Camillo di Cavour was the architect of Italian unification from above — the brilliant, pragmatic Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont who used diplomatic manipulation, economic modernization, and carefully chosen military alliances to maneuver the great powers into accepting Italian unification under the Piedmontese monarchy. His alliance with Napoleon III of France, cemented at the secret meeting of Plombières in 1858, brought French military power into the war against Austria that liberated Lombardy. He died in June 1861, just three months after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy.
- Lived: 1810 CE – 1861 CE
- Nationality: italian
- Roles: statesman, prime_minister, liberal
