Francesco Saverio Nitti

Infobox Prime Minister
name = Francesco Saverio Nitti


order = 36th
President of the Council of Ministers of Italy
monarch = Victor Emmanuel III
term_start = June 23, 1919
term_end = June 15, 1920
predecessor = Vittorio Emanuele Orlando
successor = Giovanni Giolitti
birth_date = birth date|1868|7|19|mf=y
death_date = death date and age|1953|2|20|1868|7|19|mf=y
birth_place = Melfi, Italy
death_place = Rome, Italy
party = Radical Party

Francesco Saverio Vincenzo de Paola Nitti (Melfi, July 19, 1868 - Rome, February 20, 1953) was an Italian economist and political figure. A Radical, he served as the prime minister of Italy between 1919 and 1920.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia ("Theories of Overpopulation"), Nitti ("Population and the Social System", 1894) was a staunch critic of English economist Thomas Robert Malthus and his Principle of Population.

Life

Born at Melfi, Basilicata, Francesco Nitti studied law in Naples and was subsequently active as journalist. He was correspondent for the "Gazzetta piemontese" ("Piedmontese Gazzette") and was one of the editors of the "Corriere di Napoli" ("Courier of Napels"). In 1891 he wrote the work "Il socialismo cattolico" ("The Catholic-socialism"). In 1898 he was appointed professor of finance at the University of Naples.

Nitti was chosen in 1904 for the Radical Party to serve in the Italian parliament. From 1911 to 1914 he was minister of agriculture, industry and trade under prime minister Giovanni Giolitti. In 1917 he became minister of Finance under Orlando (until 1919).

On 23 june 1919 Nitti became prime minister and foreign minister. On 20 march 1920 he was also made minister of the colonies (until 21 may 1920). His cabinet had to deal with great social unrest and dissatisfaction over the results of the Treaty of Versailles. Nitti was barely able to keep the government functioning due to the enmity between the extremely divergent political factions; the communists, anarchists and fascists. He decided to offer his resignation and was succeeded by Giovanni Giolitti on 16 june 1920.

After his resignation Nitti used his position as parliamentarian to offer resistance to the nascent power of fascism. In 1924 he decided to emigrate, but after the Second World War he returned to Italy in 1945. He was elected to the Senate, first for the National-Democrats, and later for the Socialist Party of Italy (PSI). He was staunchly opposed to Italy's NATO membership.

Francesco Nitti died in Rome on 20 February 1953. He was, during his entire lifetime an opposer of any kind of dictatorship, whether it was communist, conservative, or fascistic.

Works

*"Il socialismo cattolico" (1891)
*"L'Italia all' alba del secolo XX" (1901)
*"Principi di scienza delle finanzie" (1903)
*"L'Europa senza pace" (1921)
*"La tragedia dell' Europa" (1923)

External links

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