Giuseppe Mirri

Giuseppe Mirri (Imola, 14 December 1834 – Bologna, 5 September 1907) was an Italian politician and general. A senator of the Kingdom of Italy, he was Minister of War in the Pelloux II government.

Early life Giuseppe was the son of Francesco Mirri and Giacoma Antolini. The revolutionary wave of 1848-49 left a mark on the young Mirri, who began to associate with democratic thinkers of his home region. His father, wanting him to follow a veterinary career, and trying to keep him away from radical circles, sent him to Rome in 1853 to join his brother Pietro who was studying architecture. There he met Francesca Scarsella, whom he married in 1861 and with whom he had, in 1862, his only daughter, Maria, who died four years later. He took part in the battle of Milazzo (20 July) where was slightly wounded and promoted to major. On 1 October, during the battle of Volturno, he distinguished himself but was wounded and taken prisoner. Taken to Gaeta and badly treated, he was released on 14 November 1860 thanks to an exchange of prisoners. He stood again in the elections of 26 May 1895 in the constituencies of Imola and Budrio, but was defeated.

Having become a trusted associate of Francesco Crispi, in September 1894 Mirri was appointed extraordinary commissioner for Sicily,

Later years In 1899 he testified in Milan during the trial for the murder of Emanuele Notarbartolo. In the course of this he criticized the Palermo judiciary, and one of the prosecutors he called into question made public a letter from August 1895 in which Mirri had asked for a mafia member, Saladino, to be granted bail. This same Saladino was both a supporter of a pro-Crispi member of the Chamber of Deputies and implicated in the Notarbartolo.

In the ensuing scandal Mirri was forced to resign on 5 January 1900 and his political career was over. He returned to the military, succeeding Vittorio Emanuele III as commander of the X Army Corps and later given command of a possible expeditionary force to Cyrenaica. He was taken off active duty in February 1903 and retired in April 1907. He died a few months later in Bologna, where he had retired for health reasons.

Honours