Cattaneo, Carlo

Cattaneo, Carlo 

Born June 15, 1801, in Milan; died Feb. 6, 1869, in Castagnola, near Lugano. Italian politician, scholar, and bourgeois democrat.

In the 1830’s and 1840’s, Cattaneo contributed to scientific-technical journals in Milan and engaged in science education. He felt that dissemination of technical and scientific knowledge was required for successful economic development. During the Risorgimento, the struggle for the liberation and unification of Italy, Cattaneo emerged as one of the leaders of the revolutionary republican camp. His political program was to make Italy an independent federal republic. During the Revolution of 1848–49, Cattaneo was one of the leaders of the anti-Austrian uprising in Milan and a member of the military council and later the military committee. After the defeat of the revolution in Lombardy, Cattaneo emigrated in August 1848 and did not return until 1859. In 1860, along with G. Mazzini, he attempted to help G. Garibaldi in his struggle against the monarchists in southern Italy.

As a scholar, Cattaneo made contributions to economics, Italian philosophy, history, geography, and literary criticism.

WORKS

Scritti politici, vols. 1–4. Florence, 1964–65.
Scritti letterari, artistici, linguistici e vari, new ed., vol. 1. Florence, 1968.