MEDA, FILIPPO. — Statesman and journalist, b. in Milan on 1 January 1869, d. there on 31 December 1939. While a secondary-school student, he began publishing articles in newspapers and journals (Corriere della domenica, Eco della gioventù, Eco di s. Luigi, etc.); he was a highly active member of Catholic organizations and promoter of the Piccola Biblioteca scientifico-letteraria. In 1891 he graduated in letters from the R. Accademia scientifico-letteraria of Milan and the following year in law at Genoa.
He founded the Associazione degli elettori cattolici together with the newspaper L'elettore cattolico (1891), and shortly afterward D. Davide Albertario called him to the editorial staff of the Osservatore cattolico. He became its director in 1902, and when (1907) the Osservatore merged with the Lega lombarda, he was director of the Unione until its transformation into Italia (1912). A prolific and versatile writer, he contributed extensively to Nuova antologia, La scuola cattolica, Rassegna nazionale, and Vita e pensiero, and in 1919 founded the political-social journal Civitas, which lasted until 1925. The originator and advocate of the formula «preparazione nell'astensione», out of respect for the «non expedito» (in 1904 he declined a candidacy in Rho), he was part of the group of Catholic deputies who entered Parliament in 1909; but as early as 1902 he had been a member of the Provincial Council of Milan. He was reelected in the XXIV legislature (1913) and was Minister of Finance in the Boselli and Orlando cabinets (19 June 1916–19 June 1919). He was again reelected in the XXV legislature as a deputy of the Partito popolare italiano: on 4 June 1920 he declined the invitation to form a government and
accepted the Treasury portfolio in the Giolitti cabinet (August 1920–April 1921). He authored a highly praised project for tax reform, which remained a dead letter owing to the advent of Fascism. In 1924, dissenting from the attitude of his party, he did not stand again in the elections and devoted himself to the legal profession, study, and journalism. An exemplary Catholic, he received this praise from Pius XI: «de re catholica multipliciter benemerito».
Principal works: Fatti e idee (Milan 1898); Discorsi parlamentari (there 1913); Nella storia e nella vita (7ᵃ ed., Florence 1914); Intermezzo (Lecco 1916); Storie brevi (Milan 1920); La riforma generale delle imposte dirette sui redditi (there 1920); Pensiero e azione (there 1921); Uomini e tempi (there 1921); Lungo la via (there 1923); Il socialismo politico in Italia (there 1924); Stati cattolici (there 1926); I cattolici italiani nella guerra (there 1928); Universitari cattolici italiani (there 1928); S. Agostino (there 1930).