Balbo, Cesare [key], 1789–1853, Italian premier, historian, and author. He held various posts during the Napoleonic occupation of Italy and became involved in the liberal revolution of 1821 in Piedmont. One of the leading advocates of Italian unity and revival, he joined with Count Cavour in founding (1847) the review the Risorgimento. King Charles Albert of Sardinia made (1848) him premier of his first constitutional cabinet, but Balbo resigned after three months. His works include Sommario della storia d'Italia (1846), Le Speranze d'Italia (1844), and a life of Dante (2 vol., 1839; tr. 1852).
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