CAVOUR, CAMILLO BENSO, CONTE DI

(count of) born Aug. 10, 1810, Turin, Piedmont, French Empire died June 6, 1861, Turin, Italy Piedmontese statesman, a conservative whose exploitation of international rivalries and of revolutionary movements brought about the unification of Italy (1861) under the House of Savoy, with himself as the first prime minister of the new kingdom. Additional reading Paul Matter, Cavour et l'unit italienne . . . , 3 vol. (192227); Arthur J.B. Whyte, The Early Life and Letters of Cavour, 18101848 (1925, reprinted 1970), and The Political Life and Letters of Cavour, 18481861 (1930, reprinted 1975), are documented works available in English. W. Roscoe Thayer, The Life and Times of Cavour, 2 vol. (1911, reissued 1971), contains a full bibliography. Heinrich von Treitschke, Cavour (1870, reissued 1939), depicts Cavour as an exponent of Realpolitik. Rosario Romeo, Cavour e il suo tempo, 3rd ed., vol. 1 (1977 ), is a standard work on Cavour. Denis Mack Smith, Victor Emanuel, Cavour and the Risorgimento (1971), is a revisionist work on Cavour and the Risorgimento.