ACCURSI, MICHELANGELO

ACCURSI, MICHELEANGELO. — Also known as Michele, a conspirator, born in Rome in 1802. A curial official of the tribunal of the Segnatura di giustizia, he was a Carbonaro and after 1830 maintained correspondence with Mazzini and was part of the Roman congregation of the “Giovine Italia” directed by Enrico Mayer. Secretary to General Sercognani, Accursi participated in the uprisings of 1831 and was arrested in Rome in 1832. He declared himself a federate but confessed to regretting his recent stance, promising that, if granted freedom, he would inform the papal government of the designs of the “Giovine Italia.” Gregory XVI gave credence to these words and had him released in March 1833. Having gone to Paris and Geneva, he informed the Roman government of various Mazzinian attempts. In 1836 Mazzini began to suspect him, but nothing positive could be found, and relations between Accursi and Mazzini became cordial once more. In the spring of 1848 he returned to Rome and was appointed general assessor, but Pellegrino Rossi, who disliked his ties with the Mazzinian party, sent him on a mission abroad to study the penitentiary systems of other European states. Elected deputy to the Roman Constituent Assembly in the by-elections of 24 February 1849 alongside Mazzini, Saliceti, Cernuschi, Dall’Onigaro, and others, after the fall of the republic he took refuge in France and Switzerland.