Ruggero Settimo - Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 38° 07.493 E 013° 21.363
33S E 355905 N 4220947
A statue honoring Italian counter-admiral, diplomat, politician and political activist Ruggero Settimo is located in Piazza Ruggero Settimo in front of the Teatro Politieama Garabaldi in Palermo, Sicily.
Waymark Code: WMV7CA
Location: Sicilia, Italy
Date Posted: 03/08/2017
Views: 2
A life-size marble statue of Ruggero Settimo sands on a 12' high multi-tiered marble base set on a raised platform surrounded by a low decorative wrought iron fence. Ruggero Settimo is depicted standing with his right foot in front of his left foot. He is wearing a long double breasted overcoat which is unfurled a bit on the bottom left side. Around his neck he is wearing an ascot. His right hand is tucked into the overcoat between the first and second row of buttons. The statue was erected in 1865.
The front of the marble base is inscribed:
A RUGGIERO SETTIMO
GLI ITALIANI
NEL 1865
TO RUGGIERO SETTIMO
THE ITALIANS
IN 1865
Ruggero Settimo was born in Palermo, Sicily on May 19, 1778. He joined the navy and rose to the rank of counter-admiral of the of the Sicilian Fleet. He along with the British fleet against the French fleet under Napoleon Bonaparte in the Mediterranean Sea. He reconquered Malta and defended the city of Gaeta near Naples. In 1811 he retired from the military due to health problems.
He then entered politics and became an advocate for Sicilian independence. In 1812 he served as a member of the Sicilian government of Prince Castelnovo as Minister of the merchant navy. He joined the revolutionary junta of 1820-1821 and in 1848 in opposition to Bourbon rule. He became president of the Sicilian Senate and was appointed as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1848 to 1849. After the unification of Italy he became President of the Italian Senate from
February 18, 1861 until May 12, 1863 when he died in office at age 84.