ARMELI, CARLO

CARLO ARMELI. — Lawyer, triumvir of the Roman Republic, born in Rome in 1777, died in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (Belgium) in 1863. During the Jacobin invasion of Rome (1798), Armeli, a student at the Collegio Romano, celebrated republican ideals in a Latin poem. Upon the Pope’s return, he extolled Pius VII and Leo XII in Italian verse. Well-versed in legal studies, he became one of the consistorial advocates. With the accession of Pius IX, he followed the Pope in his liberal policies and served on the Council of Deputies. When the Pope fled, Armeli took charge of the Ministry of the Interior and represented Rome in the Constituent Assembly. After the proclamation of the Republic, he became a triumvir alongside Mazzini and Saffi and devoted himself to directing legislative work. Following the fall of the Republic, he went into exile in Belgium. Of his sons, Torquato entered the Society of Jesus, while Augusto, an anticlerical militant, served as mayor of Rome (1875); after a long illness, he returned to the faith and died a edifying death (1912).