Agostino Depretis

1813 – 1887

Agostino Depretis was an Italian statesman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy between 1876 and 1887 and gave the political vocabulary the term trasformismo, the practice of co-opting parliamentary opposition through patronage and ad hoc majorities to neutralise programmatic politics. His governments oversaw the harsh repression of agrarian unrest in southern Italy, the colonial assault on Eritrea that culminated in the 1887 Battle of Dogali, and the entrenchment of a deeply corrupt patronage state that historians of the liberal Italian period treat as a major contributor to the eventual collapse of parliamentary government under fascism. He died in office at Stradella in July 1887 while still serving as prime minister.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM