Genova Thaon di Revel

Count Genova Giovanni Battista Thaon di Revel (Genoa, 21 November 1817 – Como, 3 September 1910) was an Italian nobleman, soldier, politician, diplomat and historian. He took part in the Risorgimento campaigns and the Crimean War. He carried out several diplomatic missions for the Sardinian government. He was also minister of war and a senator of the Kingdom of Italy.

Biography Genova Thaon di Revel was the twelfth son of the Piedmontese noble :it: Ignazio Thaon di Revel and Sabina Spitalieri of Cessole. Coming from a solidly wealthy family with a large and important network of relationships, he was well integrated into Turin's high society. One of his brothers, Adriano, was minister plenipotentiary in London and Vienna, while another, Ottavio, was minister of finance of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Training Thaon attended the :it: Accademia Reale di Torino. At the age of seventeen he was made second lieutenant in the Royal Sardinian Army and was promoted to lieutenant in 1837. In the same year, due to military commitments, he was sent to Chambéry, where he was in command of an artillery battery for several months, and, during his stay, he accompanied Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Genoa visiting the region of his ancestors.

First War of Independence In July 1847 Thaon made his debut in the diplomatic field: he had the task of learning the intentions of the Papal States after the occupation of Ferrara by Austrian troops. He himself defined it as "a curious mission", which allowed him to come into contact with moderate circles in Rome, committed to creating a new national political structure and aiming to remove Austria from Italy.

His secret task was to study the organization of the Austrian army and carefully examine the political and military situation. This three-year mission took him to Hungary and Berlin as well as Vienna. His mission ended in April 1853, due to the crisis between the Sardinia and Austria following the failed Mazzinian uprising in Milan.

The Crimean War and Sardinian parliament On 11 April 1855, Thaon was sent, with the artillery officer Vittorio Asinari di San Marzano, to Crimea as military commissioners in the headquarters of Sardinia’s English and French allies. Thaon went to the English headquarters under the command of General Lord Raglan. He was re-elected to the VII legislature, serving until 1860 when he resigned following his promotion to colonel.

Soon afterwards, in Milan, Thaon met his future wife, Camilla Albani, Countess of Castelbarco. He obtained promotion to lieutenant colonel and in October 1859 he was appointed commander of the artillery brigade in Milan.

In the Italian parliament

In 1865 he was elected deputy to the parliament of the Kingdom of Italy for the constituency of Chivasso and remained there for three legislatures, until 1874.

He took part in the Third Italian War of Independence in June 1866 and, as the king's commissioner, was an important organizer and mediator during the Veneto plebiscite which sanctioned the passage of that region to the Kingdom of Italy. In recognition, he was promoted to lieutenant general on 19 October 1866.

Minister of War and Senator Thaon di Revel was briefly war minister of in the second Rattazzi government in 1867. As minister Thaon sought to introduce army reforms that would both see military spending reduced and allow Italy to learn from its own recent military experience as well as that of other countries.

During his period in office Garibaldi had gathered a corps of volunteers on the border with the Papal States and was preparing to invade it. Rattazzi and Thaon di Revel had Garibaldi arrested, but the situation got out of control when on 19 October he escaped from Caprera and landed in Tuscany to launch a new invasion of the Papal States. He resigned because the cabinet would not agree to his plan to mass fifty battalions of troops along the border with the Papal States to prevent Garibaldi’s partisans from invading as well as controlling brigandage in the border region.

Family In Milan on 26 December 1862, he married Camilla Castelbarco Visconti Simonetta with whom he had 5 children, two of whom (Umberto and Ottavia Maria) did not reach the age of majority. Sabina (17 April 1865-Como 1950) married Count Emiliano Parravicini of Parravicino on 10 July 1893. The same year the last son Antonio, a cavalry officer, died at the age of 24 due to a heart malformation. Carla (born 2 February 1875) married Count Guido Barbiano of Belgioioso in Milan on 20 April 1898.