Crispi, Francesco, 1818-1901

Francesco Crispi (4 October 1818 – 11 August 1901) was an Italian patriot and statesman. He was among the main protagonists of the Risorgimento, a close friend and supporter of Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi, and one of the architects of Italian unification in 1860. Crispi served as Prime Minister of Italy for six years, from 1887 to 1891, and again from 1893 to 1896, and was the first prime minister from Southern Italy. Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as Otto von Bismarck, William Ewart Gladstone, and Lord Salisbury. Originally an Italian patriot and democrat liberal during his first term in office, Crispi went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister and an ally and admirer of Bismarck in his second. He was indefatigable in stirring up hostility toward France. His career ended amid controversy and failure: he got involved in a major banking scandal and fell from power in 1896 after the devastating loss of the Battle of Adwa, which repelled Italy's colonial ambitions over Ethiopia. Due to his authoritarian policies and style, Crispi is often regarded as a strongman and seen as a precursor of the Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.