BORTOLUCCI, GIOVANNI

BORTOLUCCI, GIOVANNI. - Politician, b. 6 Aug. 1819 at Pavullo nel Frignano, d. 6 March 1900 at Bologna. After attending primary school at the seminary of Fiumalbo, he earned degrees in civil and canon law at Reggio Emilia. In 1848 he served as director of police for the provisional government of the Modenese provinces. In 1859 he was elected deputy to the Modenese Constituent Assembly, and in 1865 he was sent to the Italian Parliament, where he represented the Frignano constituency for six legislatures until 1882. Convinced that there could be no freedom without morality, and that the firmest foundation of the latter is religion, he was among the so-called liberal Catholics in the Chamber, alongside D'Ondes Reggio, Cantù, and others. In 1870 he spoke out against the operation that led to the breach of Porta Pia. In 1879 he opposed the bill introduced by the Minister of Justice Toiani making civil marriage a prerequisite for religious marriage. He was tried because, as a magistrate, he had dared to criticize in the Diritto Cattolico of Modena the bill introduced by Mancini against clerical abuses. In the judiciary he rose to the rank of appellate court councillor, a position he held in Bologna until his retirement.