Vittorio Emanuele Orlando Bust

Orlando became prime minister after the defeat at Caporetto in 1917. His government continued into the peace negotiations. The commemorative title associated with him, president of victory, describes only part of that experience.

Born in Palermo in 1860, Orlando had established a career in public law before reaching the head of government. His subject was the state. He examined its institutions in legal scholarship and defended his positions through forceful parliamentary speaking.

At the Paris peace conference in 1919, Orlando and Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino pressed Italy’s territorial claims. Allied disputes over the settlement, including those concerning the Adriatic, exposed the gap between wartime commitments and the principles invoked in making the peace.

Orlando later took part in the Constituent Assembly after World War II. His lifetime thus spanned the liberal monarchy, Fascist dictatorship, and the creation of the republic. Those changing constitutional settings are especially relevant to a statesman whose original profession was the study of public law.