The descendant of a
Ligurian family originally from
Zoagli, Canevaro was born in
Lima,
Peru, to Giuseppe and Francesca Velaga.
Naval career In 1852, Canevaro was admitted to the
Kingdom of Sardinia's Royal Navy School at
Genoa, completing the course of instruction in 1855 and receiving a
commission as an
ensign second class.
Italian Wars of Independence In 1859, with the rank of second
lieutenant, Canevaro took part in
Royal Sardinian Navy operations in the
Adriatic Sea aboard the
transport Beroldo and the sailing
frigate during the
Second Italian War of Independence.
Re di Portogallo attempted to ram
Kaiser, but
Kaiser steered toward
Re di Portogallo and the two ships collided violently head-on.
1870s–1890s Promoted to
capitano di fregata in 1869, Canevaro served as a
naval attaché at the Italian embassy in
London from March 1874 to August 1876. From January 1877 to March 1879, while in command of the
screw corvette , he circumnavigated the globe, departing Italy, transiting the
Suez Canal, skirting
Asia, visiting ports in
China and the
Netherlands East Indies – where
Colombo recovered the body of the Italian general and politician
Nino Bixio, who had died of
cholera in
Banda Aceh on
Sumatra in 1873 – and then went on to
Japan, the
Russian Empire (including
Siberia),
Australia, and the
Americas. After transiting the
Strait of Magellan into the Atlantic Ocean,
Colombo steamed up the coast of
South America to the
Caribbean, then crossed the Atlantic to return to Italy. The squadron put landing detachments ashore, but Christian insurgents continued to attack Ottoman forces and Canevaro soon ordered International Squadron ships to bombard them during February and March 1897 to stop the fighting. Although some political opponents in the Italian legislature attacked him for ordering the International Squadron to bombard the insurgents, Canevaro received great credit during his time in command of the squadron for his ability to exercise diplomacy and mediate disputes between the six Great Powers –
Austria-Hungary,
France, the
German Empire, Italy, the
Russian Empire, and the
United Kingdom – making up the squadron and for the way in which he dealt with the confusing and anarchic situation on Crete, balancing humanitarian compassion and a spirit of conciliation in his dealings with Greek, Christian insurgent, and Ottoman forces on the island with the occasional need to use force to halt fighting and quell disturbances. Before leaving the International Squadron in 1898, Canevaro negotiated an agreement under which all combat on Crete would cease and
Greece and the Ottoman Empire would withdraw their forces from the island in anticipation of the creation of an autonomous
Cretan State under the
suzerainty of the
Ottoman sultan. From Sanmen Bay, Italy hoped to establish an area of influence in
Zhejiang. The Russian Empire and the
United States opposed the Italian demand, but the Italian ambassador in China,
Renato De Martino, led Canevaro to believe that the area was ripe for the taking. The British government, although ambivalent toward the Italian move, gave its approval as long as Italy did not use force against the Chinese, but the British did not inform Canevaro that the United Kingdom's representatives in China had advised that Italy could not achieve its goals without using force. Believing the opportunity to pursue Italy's interests in China was at hand, Canevaro had de Martino pass Italy's demands to the Chinese imperial government in the winter of 1899, but the Chinese summarily rejected them on 4 March 1899. On 8 March, Canevaro instructed De Martino to present the demands again as an ultimatum and authorized the
armored cruiser Marco Polo and
protected cruiser Elba to occupy the bay. When the British ambassador in
Rome reminded him that the United Kingdom did not support an Italian use of force, Canevaro issued a counterorder cancelling his authorization to use the two
cruisers in the bay, but De Martino received the counterorder before he received the original authorization to employ the ships. Unable to decipher the counterorder, De Martino presented the Italian ultimatum to China again on 10 March 1899, and China immediately refused to comply. Italy withdrew its ultimatum, becoming at the end of the 19th century the first and only
Western power to fail to achieve its territorial goals in China. The fiasco was an embarrassment that gave Italy – still stung by its defeat at the hands of the
Ethiopian Empire in the
Battle of Adowa in 1896 – the appearance of a third-rate power. On 14 March 1899, Canevaro attempted to present the affair to the
Italian Parliament in a positive light, saying that he believed that China had rejected the Italian ultimatum in order to maintain a positive and productive relationship with Italy uninterrupted by negotiations over the bay, but such was the domestic criticism of the Italian failure as a humiliation and international criticism of it as a needless and unjustified provocation that Pelloux announced the resignation of his entire cabinet on 14 May 1899.
Later naval service Canevaro returned to the navy, commanding the 3rd Maritime District from 16 July 1900 to 16 January 1902 and presiding over the
Supreme Council of the Navy from 16 January 1902 until 6 July 1903. He then retired and was placed on the reserve list, although in retirement he was promoted to vice admiral of the navy on 1 December 1923. He died at
Venice on 30 December 1926. ==Awards and honors==