PASOLINI, GIUSEPPE. — Statesman, b. at Ravenna 18 Feb. 1815, d. there 4 Dec. 1876. Known and esteemed by Pius IX when the latter was Bishop of Imola, he was called to serve on the State Council 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, spending much time at his Tuscan villa of Fontallerta, where he used to gather Italian and foreign politicians and economists.
He returned to political activity in 1857, when the Pope named him Gonfaloniere of Ravenna, entrusting him at the same time with delicate unofficial diplomatic missions. About this time he also met Cavour on his own initiative and discussed with him the possibility of Pius IX’s peaceful renunciation of the Romagna. After cooperating in the transfer of authority from the Pontifical to the Sardinian authorities in the Legations, in 1860 he was named Senator and Governor of Milan. Two years later, after Aspromonte, Victor Emmanuel II entrusted him with the task of forming an extra-parliamentary government, but he favoured a constitutional solution to the crisis and designated Farini, in whose ministry he entered as Foreign Minister. In 1863–64 he carried out unofficial diplomatic functions in Paris and London; he was later Prefect of Turin and Royal Commissioner in Venice after the Third War of Independence. Finally he was appointed President of the Senate, a post he held until his death. His friendly relations with Pius IX and Victor Emmanuel II enabled him to maintain discreet contacts between the Vatican and the Quirinale. He left interesting Memoirs, edited by his son (4th enlarged ed., Turin 1915).