AZEGLIO, CESARE TAPARELLI, MARCHESE D'

AZEGLIO, CESARE TAPARELLI, marchese d'. – Zealous apostle of good Catholic journalism, father of the well-known writers Luigi (v. TAPARELLI) and Massimo (v. below), born in Turin on 10 February 1763, died in Genoa on 26 November 1830. He was without doubt one of the leading exponents of the Catholic laity in Piedmont during the early 19th century, renowned for the loyalty with which he served both the Church and the Crown. He took part in the war against the French (1795–96) and was taken prisoner; from 1800 to 1808 he lived in voluntary exile in Florence; in 1814 he was chosen to represent his sovereign before Pius VII, and subsequently held various offices, including that of governor of the province of Casale, superintendent of public welfare institutions (21 March 1820), and Grandee of the Crown (14 November 1828). He became acquainted with the Abbé de Diessbach and was guided by the Lanteri (v.); it was through these two apostles of good Catholic journalism that he was directed toward this activity. Indeed, he became a very active member of two societies with precisely this aim: the Christian Friendship (v.) of Turin and Florence, and the Catholic Friendship of Turin, of which he was secretary, i.e. president, from its foundation until its suppression by Charles Felix (1817–28). He introduced into Piedmont the then-nascent Society for the Propagation of the Faith (1824–25). The most original work carried out by d’Azeglio in favor of good Catholic journalism was the founding (1822) of the first modern Catholic periodical in Piedmont: *L’Amico d’Italia*, a moral journal of letters, sciences, and arts (16 volumes), which he edited until 1829, when its publication ceased. The majority of the articles were written by the editor himself, though notable writers such as Rosmini, Staffa, Tommaseo, Pindemonte, and others also contributed.