Visconti-Venosta was born in
Milan, in the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia. He studied jurisprudence at the
University of Pavia. A disciple of
Mazzini, he took part in all the anti-
Austrian conspiracies until the ineffectual rising at Milan on 6 February 1853, of which he had foretold the failure, induced him to renounce his Mazzinian allegiance. Continuing, nevertheless, his anti-Austrian propaganda, he rendered good service to the national cause, but being molested by the Austrian police, was obliged in 1859 to escape to
Turin, and during the
war with Austria of that year was appointed by
Cavour royal commissioner with the
Garibaldian forces. Elected deputy in 1860, he accompanied
Luigi Carlo Farini on diplomatic missions to
Modena and
Naples, and was subsequently despatched to
London and
Paris to acquaint the British and French governments with the course of events in Italy. As a recompense for the tact displayed on this occasion, he was given by Cavour a permanent appointment in the Italian foreign office, and was subsequently appointed under-secretary of state by Count Pasolini. Upon the latter's death he became Minister of Foreign Affairs (March 24, 1863) in the
Minghetti cabinet, in which capacity he negotiated the
September Convention for the evacuation of
Rome by the French troops. Resigning office with Minghetti in the autumn of 1864, he was in March 1866 sent by
la Marmora as minister to
Constantinople, but was almost immediately recalled and reappointed foreign minister by
Ricasoli. Assuming office on the morrow of the
Italian defeat at Custoza, he succeeded in preventing Austria from burdening Italy with a proportion of the Austrian imperial debt, in addition to the Venetian debt proper. The fall of Ricasoli in February 1867 deprived him for a time of his office, but in December 1869 he entered the
Lanza-
Sella cabinet as foreign minister, and retained his portfolio in the succeeding Minghetti cabinet until the fall of the Right in 1876. During this long period he was called upon to conduct the delicate negotiations connected with the
Franco-Prussian War, the
Capture of Rome by the Italians, and the consequent destruction of the temporal power of the
Pope, the
Law of Guarantees and the visits of
Victor Emmanuel II to
Vienna and
Berlin. Upon the occasion of his marriage with the daughter of the Marquis
Alfieri di Sostegno, grand-niece of Cavour, he was created marquis by the king. For a time he remained a member of the parliamentary opposition, and in 1886 was nominated senator. In 1894, after eighteen years' absence from active political life, he was chosen to be Italian arbitrator in the
Bering Sea question, and in 1896 once more accepted the portfolio of foreign affairs in the
Di Rudinì cabinet at a juncture when the disastrous
First Italo-Ethiopian War and the indiscreet publication of an Abyssinian Green Book had rendered the international position of Italy exceedingly difficult. His first care was to improve Franco-Italian relations by negotiating with France a treaty with regard to
Tunis. During the negotiations relating to the Cretan question and the
Graeco-Turkish War he secured for Italy a worthy part in the European Concert and joined
Lord Salisbury in saving
Greece from the loss of
Thessaly. Resigning office in May 1898, on a question of internal policy, he once more retired to private life. In May 1899 he again assumed the management of foreign affairs in the second
Pelloux cabinet, and continued to hold office in the succeeding
Saracco cabinet until its fall in February 1901. During this period his attention was devoted chiefly to the
Boxer Rebellion and to the maintenance of the equilibrium in the
Mediterranean and the
Adriatic. In regard to the Mediterranean he established an Italo-French agreement by which France tacitly undertook to leave Italy a free hand in
Tripoli, and Italy not to interfere with French policy in the interior of
Morocco; and, in regard to the Adriatic, he came to an understanding with
Austria-Hungary guaranteeing the
status quo in
Albania. Prudence (dubbed as "clean hands policy") and sagacity, coupled with unequalled experience of foreign policy, enabled him to assure to Italy her full portion of influence in international affairs, and secured for himself the unanimous esteem of European cabinets. In recognition of his services he was created
Knight of the Annunziata by
Victor Emmanuel III on the occasion of the birth of
Princess Yolanda of Savoy (June 1, 1901). In February 1906 he was Italian delegate to the
Algeciras Conference. The purpose of the conference was to mediate the
First Moroccan Crisis between
France and
Germany, and to assure the repayment of a large loan made to the Sultan in 1904. After this conference, Visconti-Venosta retired from public life. On account of his great experience, profound legal and political culture and sound judgment, he was often consulted by the Italian government, especially on questions of foreign affairs. He explicitly approved of Italy's declaration of neutrality on the outbreak of
World War I. He died in
Rome on 24 November 1914. ==Notes==