Gioberti, Vincenzo [key], 1801–52, Italian philosopher and political writer, b. Turin. Ordained (1825) a priest, he went into exile (1833–48) in Paris and Brussels because of his liberal political ideas. His treatise The Civil and Moral Primacy of the Italians (1843), an influential exposition of Italian nationalism and the need for papal political leadership, brought Gioberti recognition as an advocate of the primacy of religion in civilization. In 1848 he became first deputy and then premier of the kingdom of Sardinia, but he resigned after the Austrian victory over the Sardinians at Novara (1849). He served briefly as minister to Paris, then retired to private life. At first a republican, favoring a federation of Italian states under papal arbitration, he later advocated the complete unification of Italy as a constitutional monarchy.
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