{{Short description|Italian politician (1833–1898)}} {{for|the battleship of this name|Italian battleship Benedetto Brin}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Benedetto Brin | honorific_suffix = | image = Benedetto Brin 2.png | image_size = 200px | caption = Benedetto Brin | order1 = [[Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] | term_start1 = 1892 | term_end1 = 1893 | monarch1 = [[Umberto I of Italy|Umberto I]] | prime_minister1 = | predecessor1 = [[Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì]] | successor1 = [[Alberto de Blanc]] | order2 = [[Minister of the Navy (Italy)|Minister of the Navy]] | term_start2 = 1876 | term_end2 = 1898 | monarch2 = [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy|Victor Emmanuel II]] (to 1878)<br>[[Umberto I of Italy|Umberto I]] (from 1878) | prime_minister2 = | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | birth_date = 17 May 1833 | birth_place = [[Turin]], [[Kingdom of Sardinia]] | death_date = 24 May 1898 (aged 65) | death_place = | party = | alma_mater = | spouse = }}
'''Benedetto Brin''' (17 May 1833 in [[Turin]], [[Piedmont]]{{snd}}24 May 1898 in [[Rome]], [[Lazio]]) was an Italian naval administrator and politician. He played a major role in modernizing and expanding the Italian {{lang|it|[[Regia Marina]]}} ("Royal Navy") from the 1870s to the 1890s, designing several major classes of warships, including the large [[ironclad warship]]s of the {{sclass|Duilio|ironclad|5}}, {{sclass|Italia|ironclad|5}}, and {{sclass|Re Umberto|ironclad|4}}es, the [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s of the {{sclass|Ammiraglio di Saint Bon|battleship|5}} and {{sclass|Regina Margherita|battleship|4}}es, and the [[armored cruiser]]s of the {{sclass|Vettor Pisani|cruiser|5}} and {{sclass|Giuseppe Garibaldi|cruiser|4}}es. His contributions to Italian naval power were marked by the naming of the second ''Regina Margherita''-class battleship as {{ship|Italian battleship|Benedetto Brin||2}}, among other commemorations.
==Biography== Born in [[Turin]], he worked with distinction as a [[naval engineer]] until the age of forty. In 1873, Admiral [[Simone Antonio Saint-Bon]], Italy's [[Minister of the Navy (Italy)|Minister of the Navy]], appointed him [[Undersecretary (Italy)|undersecretary of state]]. The two men collaborated on major projects: Saint-Bon conceived a type of ship, and Brin made the plans and directed its construction.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Brin, Benedetto|volume=4|page=571}}</ref>
On the advent of the [[Left-wing|Left]] to power in 1876, Brin was appointed Minister of the Navy by [[Agostino Depretis]], a capacity in which he continued the policies of Saint-Bon, while enlarging and completing the project in such a way as to form the first organic scheme for the development of the [[Regia Marina|Italian fleet]]. The huge ironclads of the {{sclass|Italia|ironclad|5|warship}} and {{sclass|Duilio|ironclad|4|warship}}es were his work, though he briefly abandoned their type in favour of smaller and faster [[armored cruiser]]s of the {{sclass|Vettor Pisani|cruiser|5}} and the {{sclass|Giuseppe Garibaldi|cruiser|4}}es,{{sfn|Macintyre & Bathe|p=100}} before returning to large [[capital ship]]s with the {{sclass|Re Umberto|ironclad|1}}s and later the {{sclass|Regina Margherita|battleship|4}} of [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|pp=342–343}} Through his initiative, the Italian naval industry, almost non-existent in 1873, made rapid progress.<ref name="EB1911"/>
During his eleven years in the ministry (1876–1878 with Depretis, 1884–1891 with Depretis and [[Francesco Crispi]], 1896–1898 with [[Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì]]), he succeeded in creating large private [[shipyard]]s, engine works and metallurgical works for the production of armour, steel plates and guns.<ref name="EB1911"/>
In 1892, he entered the [[Giovanni Giolitti]] cabinet as [[Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs|Minister of Foreign Affairs]], accompanying, in that capacity, [[House of Savoy|King]] [[Umberto I of Italy|Umberto I]] and [[Margherita of Savoy|Queen Margherita]] to [[Potsdam]], but chose not to act against [[France]] on the occasion of the [[Massacre of Italians at Aigues-Mortes|massacre of Italian workmen at Aigues-Mortes]]. He died while Minister of the Navy in the Rudini cabinet.<ref name="EB1911"/>
==Commemoration== [[file:Rome-Italy, Via Santi Apostoli - Targa Benedetto Brin.JPG|thumb|Plaque dedicated to Benedetto Brin on Via Santi Apostoli, Rome.]] * The ''Regia Marina'' launched the {{sclass|Regina Margherita|battleship}} {{ship|Italian battleship|Benedetto Brin||2}}, named for him, in 1901.{{sfn|Fraccaroli|p=343}} * The [[submarine]] {{ship|Italian submarine|Brin||2}} was named after him.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} * A [[commemorative plaque]] dedicated to Benedetto Brin is on Via Santi Apostoli in Rome.
==Footnotes== {{reflist}}
==References== * {{cite book |last=Fraccaroli |first=Aldo |editor-last=Gardiner |editor-first=Robert |chapter=Italy |pages=334–359 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905 |year=1979 |location=London |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |isbn=978-0-85177-133-5 |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2 |ref={{SfnRef|Fraccaroli}} }} * {{cite book |title= Man of War: A History of the Combat Vessel |last1=Macintyre |first1=Donald |last2=Bathe |first2=Basil W |publisher=Castle Books |location=New York |year=1974 |isbn=9780890090206 |ref={{sfnref|Macintyre & Bathe}} }}
{{s-start}} {{succession box|title=[[Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs]]|before=[[Antonio Starabba, Marchese di Rudinì]]|after=[[Alberto de Blanc]]|years=1892–1893}} {{s-end}}
{{Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brin, Benedetto}} [[Category:1833 births]] [[Category:1898 deaths]] [[Category:Politicians from Turin]] [[Category:People from the Kingdom of Sardinia]] [[Category:Historical Left politicians]] [[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Italy]] [[Category:Ministers of the navy of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XII of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XIII of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XIV of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XV of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XVI of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XVII of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XVIII of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XIX of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Deputies of Legislature XX of the Kingdom of Italy]] [[Category:Military personnel from Turin]] [[Category:19th-century Italian engineers]] [[Category:Italian naval architects]] [[Category:19th-century Italian military personnel]] [[Category:Engineers from Turin]]