Giacinto de' Sivo

Giacinto de 'Sivo (29 November 1814 – 19 November 1867) was an Italian writer and historian, a senior official in the administration of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Biography

Giacinto de' Sivo was born in Terra di Lavoro, the son of Aniello, an officer at the Army of the Two Sicilies, and Maria Rosa Di Lucia. The de 'Sivo family had a long tradition of loyalty to the Bourbon dynasty. His grandfather, also named Giacinto, had fought the Parthenopean Republic in 1799 in the ranks of Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo's Sanfedista army. His uncle Antonio was also a soldier.

After a childhood spent on family properties, he attended the school of Marquis Basilio Puoti (an eminent master of Italian language and elocution) in Naples. In 1836, in his early twenties, he published his first book, a small volume of verse; four years later he published the tragedy Costantino Dracosa, dedicated to Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last emperor of Constantinople. This was to be followed by seven more tragedies on historical subjects and the historical novel Corrado Capece. In 1844 de' Sivo married Costanza Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona, daughter of Count Luigi, Field Marshal and adjutant general to the king, by whom he had three children.

Parallel to his literary activity he held important executive positions in the state administration. He was part of the Commission for Public Instruction, then-in 1848-he was appointed Councillor of the Intendancy of the province of Terra di Lavoro, with seven hundred men under his orders, and in January 1849 he was commander of one of the four companies of the National Guard of Maddaloni, until the dissolution of this militia.

The wave of revolutionary uprisings that broke out in 1848 deeply affected de' Sivo, prompting him to write a historical reflection on the events of the two-year period 1848-1849, which, however, he did not give to print but kept in his own home.

At the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, de' Sivo proclaimed himself loyal to the Bourbon dynasty. He was dismissed from his position as councillor of the Intendancy and arrested (Sept. 14, 1860). His house was occupied for three months by Nino Bixio and other Garibaldians. It was returned to him after being looted. The Garibaldians also seized the manuscript that de' Sivo had written about the events of 1848–1849.

Released from prison, he was arrested again on January 1, 1861 and imprisoned for two months. Once free again, he decided to launch his challenge to the new regime by founding the legitimist journal La tragicommedia, in which he openly expressed his political views favoring the restoration of the Bourbons to the throne of Naples. The journal was suppressed after only three issues. De' Sivo was arrested again on September 6, 1861. Faced with the choice between submission to the Savoy dynasty and exile, he left the following day, September 14, for Rome, a city that was already hosting Francis II along with his court.

In the capital of the Papal States de' Sivo continued his publicist activities. On the emotional wave of the recent defeat, he gave to the press a short pamphlet, Italy and its Political Drama in 1861, in which he defended the confederal solution to the national question, lashing out against the abstract principle of the plebiscite and against the interference of Great Britain, which "is at war with everyone and makes war on no one."

The last years of his life were devoted to defending the national identity of the Kingdom in which he was born. Other works of historical reconstruction belonged to this period. In 1863 de' Sivo completed the History of the Two Sicilies from 1847 to 1861, which represents the apex of his literary and historical production.

He died at the age of fifty-two on November 19, 1867. He was initially buried in the Verano cemetery. In May 1960 his remains were moved to his native Maddaloni.

Works

• Costantino Dracosa (1840; tragedy)
• Florinda d'Algezira (1844; tragedy)
• Corrado Capece. Storia pugliese dei tempi di Manfredi (1846; historical novel)
• Manasse (1854; tragedy)
• Gedeone (1856; tragedy)
• La figlia di Jefte (1857; tragedy)
• Partenope (1858; tragedy)
• La cena di Alboino (1858 tragedy)
• Belisario (1860; tragedy)
• Elogio di Ferdinando Nunziante (1852; 1989)
• Storia di Galazia campana e di Maddaloni (1860–65; 1986)
• L'Italia e il suo dramma politico nel 1861 (1861; 2002)
• I napolitani al cospetto delle nazioni civili (1861; 1967; edited by Silvio Vitale, 1994)
• Discorso pe' morti del Volturno (1861)
• Storia delle Due Sicilie dal 1847 al 1861 (1863; 1964; 2009)
• Scritti politici (2013)

References

• Croce, Benedetto (1919). "Uno Storico Reazionario: Giacinto De Sivo." In: Una famiglia di patrioti ed altri saggi storici e critici. Bari: Laterza, pp. 147–60.
• Iorio, Bruno (2001). Il Primato Napolitano: Studi su Giacinto de' Sivo ed altri saggi. Napoli: Loffredo.
• Mascia, Roberto (1966). La Vita e le Opere di Giacinto de' Sivo, 1814-1867. Napoli: A. Berisio.
• Sarlin, Simon (2022). "Frères contre la Révolution: Discours et Expériences de la Fraternité dans l'Anti-Risorgimento." In: Frères de Sang, Frères d'Armes, Frères Ennemis. La Fraternité en Italie (1820-1924). Rome: Publications de l’École française de Rome, pp. 183–97.

External links

• Works by Giacinto De' Sivo at Gallica
• Works by Giacinto De' Sivo at The Online Books Page