Spada, Giuseppe

SPADA, GIUSEPPE. - Historian, b. in Rome on 21 July 1793, d. there on 3 Nov. 1867. In 1811 he entered the bank of the Torlonia, of which he soon became procurator and, in 1863, co-owner.

He wrote the Storia della Rivoluzione di Roma (partial posthumous edition by his son Alessandro, 1868-69). The fundamental thesis of the "foreign" origin of the Roman Revolution is manifested in La difesa dei Romani and in the Three hundred biographies of "foreigners" who came to Rome in that period to disturb the tranquil life of the local population, a thesis that reappears, toned down, also in the Storia.

S., a conservative Catholic, certainly did not fully understand the meaning and value of the new political-social currents which he decisively opposed. His Storia is not, however, a partisan work, and the narrative, though feeble and long-winded, unfolds serenely and honestly, and must be considered as one of the most serious and useful printed sources for the study of the Roman Revolution.

Published works: Osservazioni storiche sulla unità e nazionalità italiana (Rome 1860); Storia della Rivoluzione di Roma e della restaurazione del governo pontificio dal 1º giugno 1846 al 15 luglio 1849 (3 vols., Florence 1868-69). Unpublished: a Cronaca di tutti gli avvenimenti di Roma dal 16 giugno 1846 al 3 luglio 1849; and Sommario ossia raccolta di alcuni documenti riportati in appoggio alla storia di Roma.

Fausto Fonzi