Zileri dal Verme, Roberto

ZILERI DAL VERME, ROBERTO. - Italian deputy and Catholic organizer, b. in Rome on 25 Oct. 1858, d. in Vicenza on 28 Feb. 1937.

He was among the first to take part in the Catholic movement. He distinguished himself especially in the work of the "Niccolò Tommaso" [association] for the Christian renewal of the school. He also held the presidency of Catholic production and labor cooperatives. Elected mayor of Vicenza in 1896, the first mayor from the Catholic side in a provincial capital, he administered excellently and stood firm against his opponents. In July '97 the minister Rudinì, who was beginning an anticlerical policy, dissolved the municipal council. After a few years Z. returned to the municipality with the clerico-moderate majority, as alderman for Public Works. He was also several times a provincial councillor. He served as a volunteer for the independence of the Boers in South Africa, and in the unfortunate attempt at monarchical restoration in Portugal. On the occasion of the Calabrian-Sicilian earthquake of Dec. 1908 he was among the first on the spot, and from the blessed Pius X, who knew him well, he received many assignments of assistance. After that disaster he cooperated for a long time with the servant of God Fr. Orione to gather up the orphans. During the Libyan war and the First World War, although advanced in age, he gave his service as a volunteer of the Red Cross in the most exposed ambulances, and he then presided in Vicenza over the national work for civil and religious assistance to war orphans. At the same time he kept his place in Catholic Action, presiding over the diocesan board. When the Italian People's Party arose in '19, he enrolled in it at once and was elected deputy for a Vicenza constituency for the XXV legislature. A sincere supporter of the Conciliation, he manifested his exultation over the Lateran Pacts of 1929.

Agostino Vian