Cavour, Count

ka-voor', Count (1810-1861), an Italian statesman. He was born and educated at Turin. He studied abroad, particularly in England. He became the prime minister and adviser of Victor Emmanuel, the king of Sardinia. He bears the same relation to united and free Italy that Bismarck bears to the new German Empire, except that his task was a more difficult and delicate one, and that he carried it to success with less sacrifice of honor and morality. Italy had been split up by France and Austria into several kingdoms. In point of strength it might be compared to a lamb with these two large powers snarling and ready to devour. To rescue Italy from the jaws of Austria, without allowing it to fall into the mouth of France, and to unite the several petty kingdoms into one Italy was a difficult task; yet, barring the loss of Nice and Savoy to France, this was accomplished. Cavour was the statesman who planned the moves and formed the alliances. Victor Emmanuel was the man of action whose plume waved on the battlefield. See Italy