Giovanni Giolitti

Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti in 1920
Prime Minister of Italy
In office 15 June 1920 – 4 July 1921
Monarch	Victor Emmanuel III
Preceded by	Francesco Saverio Nitti
Succeeded by	Ivanoe Bonomi
In office 30 March 1911 – 21 March 1914
Monarch	Victor Emmanuel III
Preceded by	Luigi Luzzatti
Succeeded by	Antonio Salandra
In office 29 May 1906 – 11 December 1909
Monarch	Victor Emmanuel III
Preceded by	Sidney Sonnino
Succeeded by	Sidney Sonnino
In office 3 November 1903 – 12 March 1905
Monarch	Victor Emmanuel III
Preceded by	Giuseppe Zanardelli
Succeeded by	Tommaso Tittoni
In office 15 May 1892 – 15 December 1893
Monarch	Umberto I
Preceded by	Marchese di Rudinì
Succeeded by	Francesco Crispi
Minister of the Interior
In office 15 June 1920 – 4 July 1921
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Francesco Saverio Nitti
Succeeded by	Ivanoe Bonomi
In office 30 March 1911 – 21 March 1914
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Luigi Luzzatti
Succeeded by	Antonio Salandra
In office 3 November 1903 – 12 March 1905
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Giuseppe Zanardelli
Succeeded by	Tommaso Tittoni
In office 15 February 1901 – 20 June 1903
Prime Minister	Giuseppe Zanardelli
Preceded by	Giuseppe Saracco
Succeeded by	Giuseppe Zanardelli
In office 15 May 1892 – 15 December 1893
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Giovanni Nicotera
Succeeded by	Francesco Crispi
Minister of the Navy
In office 3 September 1903 – 9 November 1903
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Enrico Morin
Succeeded by	Carlo Mirabello
Minister of Finance
In office 14 September 1890 – 10 December 1890
Prime Minister	Francesco Crispi
Preceded by	Federico Seismit-Doda
Succeeded by	Bernardino Grimaldi
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 29 May 1881 – 17 July 1928
Constituency	Piedmont
Personal details
Born	(1842-10-27)27 October 1842 Mondovì, Kingdom of Sardinia
Died	17 July 1928(1928-07-17) (aged 85) Cavour, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy
Political party	Historical Left (1882–1913) Liberal Union (1913–1922) Italian Liberal Party (1922–1926)
Spouse(s)	Rosa Sobrero ​ (m. 1869⁠–⁠1921)​ ; her death
Children	7; including Enrichetta
Alma mater	University of Turin
Profession	Official politician
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Giovanni Giolitti (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoˈvanni dʒoˈlitti]; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the prime minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister in Italian history, and the second-longest serving overall after Benito Mussolini. A prominent leader of the Historical Left and the Liberal Union, he is widely considered one of the most powerful and important politicians in Italian history; due to his dominant position in Italian politics, Giolitti was accused by critics of being an authoritarian leader and a parliamentary dictator.^[1]

Giolitti was a master in the political art of trasformismo, the method of making a flexible, centrist coalition of government which isolated the extremes of the Left and the Right in Italian politics after the unification. Under his influence, the Liberals did not develop as a structured party and were a series of informal personal groupings with no formal links to political constituencies.^[2] The period between the start of the 20th century and the start of World War I, when he was prime minister and Minister of the Interior from 1901 to 1914, with only brief interruptions, is often referred to as the "Giolittian Era".^[3][4]

A centrist liberal,^[3] with strong ethical concerns,^[5] Giolitti's periods in office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved^{[citation needed]} the living standards of ordinary Italians, together with the enactment of several policies of government intervention.^[4][6][7] Besides putting in place several tariffs, subsidies, and government projects, Giolitti also nationalized the private telephone and railroad operators. Liberal proponents of free trade criticized the "Giolittian System", although Giolitti himself saw the development of the national economy as essential in the production of wealth.^[8]

The primary focus of Giolittian politics was to rule from the centre with slight and well-controlled fluctuations between conservatism and progressivism, trying to preserve the institutions and the existing social order.^[9] Right-wing critics like Luigi Albertini considered him a socialist due to the courting of socialist and leftist votes in parliament in exchange for political favours, while left-wing critics like Gaetano Salvemini accused him of being a corrupt politician and of winning elections with the support of criminals.^[6][9][10] Nonetheless, his highly complex legacy continues to stimulate intense debate among writers and historians.^[11]