DRAGONETTI, LUIGI. - Patriot and politician, born at Aquila on 1 October 1791, died there on 21 February 1871. A deputy in the Neapolitan Parliament, he was subsequently appointed by Ferdinando II inspector of penal institutions (1831), contributing effectively to the improvement of the old punitive systems.
Accused of having taken part in the Aquilan uprising of 1841, although acquitted by the military tribunal, he was relegated to Montecassino, where he became the faithful and beloved friend of Abbot Tosti. Released in 1846, he settled in Rome, where he founded several liberal periodicals. On returning to Naples (1848), he was for some time Minister of Foreign Affairs. Arrested the following year on a false charge, he was kept in prison for four years. Having left Italy (1852), he was able to return to Naples, after a long period of exile, only following the fall of the Bourbons. In 1861 he was appointed senator of the new Kingdom of Italy. He left a Raccolta degli scritti polemici e vari
