the staunchest supporters of Cavour, and strongly favoured the proposal that Piedmont should participate in the Crimean War, if indeed he was not actually the first to suggest that policy. In 1856 and 1857 he published two letters to British liberal statesman William Ewart Gladstone on Italian affairs, which created a sensation, while he continued to propagate his views in the Italian press. When on the outbreak of the war of 1859 Francis V, duke of Modena, was expelled and a provisional government set up, Farini was sent as Piedmontese commissioner to that city; but, although recalled after the peace of Villafranca which ended the Second Italian War of Independence, he was determined on the annexation of central Italy to Sardinia/Piedmont and remained behind, becoming a Modenese citizen and dictator of the state. He negotiated an alliance with Parma, Romagna and Tuscany, when other provisional governments had been established, and entrusted the task of organizing an army for this central Italian league to General Fanti. Annexation to Piedmont having been voted by plebiscite and the opposition of Napoleon III having been overcome, Farini returned to Turin, where the king conferred on him the order of the Annunziata and Cavour appointed him minister of the interior (June 1860), and subsequently viceroy of Naples; but he soon resigned on the score of ill-health. Cavour died in 1861, and the following year, Farini succeeded Rattazzi as premier, in which office he endeavoured to carry out Cavour's policy. Over-exertion, however, brought on softening of the brain, which compelled him to resign office on 24 March 1863, and ultimately resulted in his death in poverty at Quarto dei Mille in Genoa. He was buried at Turin, but in 1878 his remains were removed to his native village of Russi. His son Domenico Farini had also a distinguished political career and was three times President of the Chamber of Deputies and President of the Senate. Sources External links La diplomazia e la quistione Italiana, lettera By Luigi Carlo Farini Lo stato Romano dall'anno 1815 all'anno 1850 By Luigi Carlo Farini Vol. I, Vol. II, Vol. III, Vol. IV 1812 births 1866 deaths People from Russi People of the Papal States Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Kingdom of Sardinia) Prime Ministers of Italy 19th-century Italian politicians 19th-century Italian historians Italian people of the Italian unification Recipients of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Exiled Italian