Gioberti, VINCENZO

Gioberti, VINCENZO, an Italian philosopher and political writer, was born 5th April 1801, at Turin. Educated for the church, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1825, and on the accession of Charles Albert to the throne of Sardinia was selected as chaplain to the court. But, his liberal views being obnoxious to the clerical party, he was two years later suddenly arrested, and after four months' imprisonment sent out of the country. After a short stay at Paris, the exile went on (1834) to Brussels, where he spent eleven years as private tutor in an academy, pursuing in his leisure hours his favourite studies. These were at first of a philosophic nature, the fruits of his labours appearing in Introduzione allo Studio della Filosofia (1839), Del Bello (1841), and Del Buono (1842). Towards the end of his period of exile in Brussels he began to write on the state of Italy. A devout Catholic, Gioberti looked upon the papacy as the divinely appointed agency for the elevation of Italy among the nations. A confederation of states subject to papal arbitration, and having in the king of Sardinia a military protector, was the scheme he devised for the unity and regeneration of his country. These views he elaborately developed in Del Primato Civile e Morale degli Italiani. Its publication in Paris in 1843 was hailed with the utmost enthusiasm in Italy, and his fame was still further enhanced by his work Il Gesuita Moderno (1846-47), directed against the Jesuit order. On his return to Italy in 1848 he was received with universal ovations from all classes of the people, was chosen by both Turin and Genoa as their representative in parliament, was appointed senator by the king, and subsequently elected president of the chamber of deputies, and finally prime-minister. As a statesman, however, he was not successful, and after a few weeks' tenure of office he resigned. Being shortly afterwards despatched to Paris on a political mission, he finally settled there and devoted himself exclusively to literary pursuits. He died at Paris of apoplexy, 26th October 1852. His chief writings besides those mentioned are Teoria del Soprannaturale (1838), a work against what he regarded as the philosophical errors of his countryman Rosmini (1842), Del Rinnovamento Civile d'Italia (1851), La Filosofia della Rivelazione (1856), and Della Protologia (1857). In philosophy he stood somewhat apart from most schools, though cherishing Platonic sympathies; his works, though Christian and religiously orthodox, were placed on the Index. In 1856-63 Massari published in 11 vols. the Opere Inedite of Gioberti. See Massari, Vita di Gioberti (1848); Spaventa, La Filosofia di Gioberti (1864); and Berti, Gioberti (1881).