TALAMINI, NATALE. - Priest, b. at Pescul (Belluno) on 25 Dec. 1808, d. there on 6 Apr. 1876.
He embraced the ecclesiastical state at a very young age and distinguished himself so greatly in his studies that, immediately after his Ordination, he was appointed professor of Oriental languages at the Seminary of Udine. He then moved to Venice, where he was tutor in the Contarini household and teacher in the public schools, while publishing an entire collection of poems devoted to the beauties of his Cadore. At the same time he conspired against Austria, and in 1849 took part in the regiment of the Republic of Manin and Tommaso.
After the fall of Venice, he withdrew to Cadore, but was arrested; he was subsequently acquitted for lack of evidence. Archduke Massimiliano of Absburgo, viceroy of Lombardo-Veneto, later offered him the opportunity to resume teaching, but he preferred to live in dignified poverty in his native village, devoting himself to the care of souls, poetry, and the promotion of Italian identity. When war broke out in 1866, he organized the armed bands of Cadore to harass the Austrian rear behind the troops operating in the Quadrilateral and to hinder traffic between Austria and Veneto. When the war ended, his fellow countrymen elected him deputy to Parliament, but political life did not suit him, and he resigned, returning to his pastoral duties, studies, and poetic pursuits. His noteworthy poems were collected in a volume between 1867 and 1897.