Carlo Filangieri

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies state institutions Counter-revolutionary forces 1784–1867 ○ Natural causes

Neapolitan general who crushed the Sicilian revolution in 1848–1849, taking Messina and Catania, and governed the island until 1855

Born in 1784 at Cava de' Tirreni near Salerno, the eldest son of the philosopher and jurist Gaetano Filangieri, he trained at the Military Academy in Paris, fought for Napoleon at Austerlitz and elsewhere, and rose to general under Murat. In 1820 he sided with the constitutionalists and fought under Pepe against the Austrians, for which he was dismissed, but in 1831 Ferdinand II recalled him to reform the army. In 1848 he advised the king to grant a constitution, yet when Sicily seceded he led the force sent to subdue it: he took Messina in September after very severe fighting and then Catania, where his troops committed many atrocities. By May 1849 he had reconquered the whole island, which he governed as lieutenant-general until 1855. Francis II made him premier and minister of war in 1859, but he resigned when his proposals were rejected. He died in 1867.