SALANDRA, ANTONIO — Statesman, born at Troia (Foggia) on 13 July 1853, died at Rome on 9 December 1931. A lawyer and scholar of the philosophy of law and economics, in 1880 he obtained the chair of administrative science at the University of Rome, later moving to that of administrative law, which he held until his death.
He wrote La giustizia amministrativa nei governi liberi, published in 1904, which must be regarded as a classic in the field. S. also devoted himself to active politics and from 1886 was continuously the deputy for Foggia in the Italian Parliament, sitting on the centre-right. Several times undersecretary and subsequently minister, successively of Finance, the Treasury, and Agriculture, he came into conflict with Giolitti and was accused by the Left of being a “reactionary.” He became President of the Council in March 1914, and, owing to the rapid development of international events, found himself at the head of the government during the period of Italian neutrality, the denunciation of the Triple Alliance, the Treaty of London, and armed intervention; he energetically supported his foreign ministers—first S. Giuliano and then Somino—in the difficult negotiations with the Central Empires and the Entente powers, while at the same time carrying out the country’s military preparations.
Having resigned in 1916, after the Austrian offensive on the plateaus, he was later the Italian delegate to the Peace Conference and to the League of Nations. At first he adhered to Fascism, but when he realized that it was increasingly shying away from entering the constitutional order, he decisively took part in what was called “the opposition in the chamber” (as opposed to the Aventine secession), and eventually withdrew into private life, without even taking part in the work of the Senate, to which he had been appointed in 1928. In his final years he devoted himself to writing his memoirs, of which the two volumes concerning La neutralità italiana and L’intervento have appeared, both exceptionally rich in information and highly objective.