Giovanni Lanza

Who was Giovanni Lanza?

Domenico Giovanni Giuseppe Maria Lanza was an Italian politician and the eighth Prime Minister from 1869 to 1873.

Lanza was born in the Piedmontese city of Casale Monferrato. He studied medicine at Turin, capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia, then returned to Casale where he divided his energies between practising medicine and developing his 33 hectare estate in nearby Roncaglia. He studied and wrote on agriculture developments in both the practical and social aspects. Lanza was among the first in Monferrato to introduce modern equipment as iron ploughs and seed drills, and also involved himself in the agricultural education of poor children, hoping to achieve at once “the betterment of our agriculture and the moral and intellectual betterment of our agricultural workers.”

He was also an active member of the Subalpine Agricultural Association of Turin and became its secretary.