PASOLINI, GIUSEPPE. – Statesman, born at Ravenna on 8 February 1815, died there on 4 December 1876. Known and esteemed by Pius IX when he was bishop at Imola, he was called to join the State Consulta in 1847 and subsequently appointed Minister of Commerce and Vice-President of the High Council. After the assassination of Pellegrino Rossi, he withdrew from public life and eventually left Rome, residing for a long time at his Tuscan villa at Fontallerta, where he used to gather Italian and foreign politicians and economists.
He returned to political activity in 1857, when the Pope appointed him gonfaloniere of Ravenna, at the same time entrusting him with delicate diplomatic missions of an unofficial nature. Around this time, on his own initiative, he also met with Cavour, with whom he discussed the possibility of Pius IX’s peacefully renouncing the Romagne. After cooperating in the transfer of power between the papal and Sardinian authorities in the Legations, in 1860 he was appointed senator and governor of Milan. Two years later, after Aspromonte, Vittorio Emanuele II entrusted him with forming an extra-parliamentary government; however, he favored a constitutional solution to the crisis and designated Farini, in whose ministry he entered as Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1863–64 he carried out unofficial diplomatic functions in Paris and London; he was subsequently prefect of Turin and the King’s commissioner in Venice after the Third War of Independence. Finally, he was appointed president of the Senate, a position he held until his death. His friendly relations with Pius IX and Vittorio Emanuele II enabled him to maintain discreet contacts between the Vatican and the Quirinal. He left interesting Memorie, published under the editorship of his son (4th enlarged ed., Turin 1915).