Costantino, count Nigra (June 11, 1828 - July 1, 1907) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

ist

Biography

Nigra was born at Villa Castelnuovo

Castelnuovo Nigra

Castelnuovo Nigra is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 40 km north of Turin.-External links:*...

, in the province of Turin

Province of Turin

The Province of Turin is a province in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin.It has an area of 6,830 km², and a total population of 2,277,686 . There are 315 comuni in the province – the most of any province in Italy...

.

During the war of 1848

Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states

The 1848 revolutions in the Italian states were organized revolts in the states of Italy led by intellectuals and agitators who desired a liberal government. As Italian nationalists they sought to eliminate reactionary Austrian control...

 he interrupted his studies to serve as a volunteer against Austria, and was wounded at the battle of Rivoli. On the conclusion of peace he entered the Piedmontese foreign office; he accompanied Victor Emmanuel

Victor Emmanuel II of Italy

Victor Emanuel II was king of Sardinia from 1849 and, on 17 March 1861, he assumed the title King of Italy to become the first king of a united Italy since the 6th century, a title he held until his death in 1878...

 and Cavour to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1855, and in the following year he took part in the conference of Paris by which the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

 was brought to an end.

After the meeting at Plombières

Plombières

Plombières is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Plombières had a total population of 9,672. The total area is 53.17 km² which gives a population density of 182 inhabitants per km². The municipality Plombières consists of the villages...

 between Cavour and Napoleon III Nigra was sent to Paris again to popularize a Franco-Piedmontese alliance, Nigra being, as Cavour said, the only person perhaps who knows all my thoughts, even the most secret. He was instrumental in negotiating the marriage between Victor Emmanuel's daughter Clothilde and Napoleon's nephew, and during the war of 1859 he was always with the emperor. He was recalled from Paris when the occupation of the Marche

Marche

The population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...

 and Umbria

Umbria

Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...

 by the Piedmontese caused a breach in Franco-Italian relations, and was appointed secretary of state to the prince of Carignano, viceroy of the Neapolitan provinces.

When Napoleon recognized the kingdom of Italy in 1861, Nigra returned to France as minister-resident, and for many years played a most important part in political affairs. In 1876 he was transferred to St Petersburg with the rank of ambassador, in 1882 to London, and in 1885 to Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

. In 1899 he represented Italy at the first Hague Peace Conference

Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907)

The Hague Conventions were two international treaties negotiated at international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands: The First Hague Conference in 1899 and the Second Hague Conference in 1907...

. In 1904 he retired, and he died at Rapallo on the 1st of July 1907. He was created count in 1882 and senator in 1890.

Nigra was a sound classical scholar, and published translations of many Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 and Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

poems with valuable comments; he was also a poet and the author of several works of folk-lore and popular poetry, of which the most important is his Canti popolari del Piemonte.
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