CAVOUR, Gustavo Benso, marchese di. – Born on 27 Jan. 1866 in Turin, died there on 26 Feb. 1864. Elder brother of Camillo C., he inherited from his father, by right of primogeniture, the marquessate. Gifted with an excellent memory and wide learning, he was naturally inclined toward liberal institutions; yet, while opposing absolutism, he favoured reformist measures rather than radical ones.
Bound to his brother by a true friendship, he admired Camillo’s intellectual gifts and urged him to devote himself to writing. Having lost his wife at a very young age, at twenty-seven, he immersed himself in studies, especially philosophy, and in 1836 made the acquaintance of Rosmini, whom he came to love and to know intimately. Enthusiastically, Cavour became a leading exponent of Rosminianism in Piedmont, Switzerland, and France. In the *Bibliothèque universelle de Genève* he published a series of three introductory articles on the doctrines of the philosopher from Rovereto (*Des ouvrages philosophiques de M. l'abbé Rosmini*, new series, 11, 14, 15 [1837–38]). Three years later, he expanded this exposition into a small volume entitled *Fragments philosophiques*. His admiration for Rosmini also drew him into a lively controversy with Gioberti. While staying in Paris, he found in the Catholic newspaper *Univers* an article hostile to Rosminian doctrines and favourable to those of de Maistre. Cavour replied in the same paper in harsh terms; nor did he confine the dispute to the purely scientific field, but made personal remarks about Gioberti that were untrue and deeply wounded him. Cavour continued his literary activity in the following years, publishing a philosophical essay on communist ideas (*Des idées communistes et des moyens d'un combatte de développement*, in *Bibliothèque universelle*, 4th series, 1 [1846], pp. 5–59), and other writings. He also contributed to *L’Armonia della religione con la civiltà*.
He was elected deputy to the fourth legislature of the Subalpine Parliament (1852–53) and retained his seat in subsequent elections until his death. Highly esteemed by his colleagues for his zeal in parliamentary work, he intervened effectively on several occasions in the debates of the Chamber.
During the discussion of the bill on civil marriage, introduced by the Minister of Justice Boncompagni, Cavour declared that he was not opposed to the law itself and admitted the need to separate canon law from civil legislation, but he could not approve certain amendments proposed by the Left that might cause scruples of conscience among believers. “As a sincere Catholic,” he said on that occasion, “I believe that a Catholic has nothing to fear from a law that truly upholds liberty. As one who sincerely loves constitutional liberty, I hold that a law cannot truly be called liberal if it offends, even in the smallest matters, a conscience, even a scrupulous one” (session of 1 July 1852). His stance was further evidenced by the speech he delivered on 9 and 10 January 1855 during the debate on the bill to suppress religious communities. After affirming that the provisions of the bill seemed to him contrary “to the principles of justice and rectitude,” he went on to define the liberalism of its supporters: “For many, the liberal is not one who, loving liberty for himself and for others, resolutely wills it for all; in their eyes, to be liberal it is necessary to possess at least a decent endowment of priest-phobia, one must nurture a more or less implacable hostility toward those peaceful associations in which man, sheltered from the terrible play of the passions, at the very least harms no one and often finds a way to render splendid and great services to his fellow men.” He voted against the bill introduced by the ministry presided over by his brother. He was also in opposition during the debate on the treaty of alliance concluded with France and England for the Crimean War.