1

Quintino Sella (1827 - 1884) was an eminent Italian politician who served three times as Minister of the Finances. He also co-founded the CAI (Club Alpino Italiano), the senior Italian alpine club whose main goal is to preserve the alpine environment and spread the knowledge of the area through climbing expeditions. This letter, which is addressed to an anonymous ‘collega’, seems to be related to matters concerning the abovementioned club since it mentions Edoardo Mantinori (1854 - 1935), an engineer who founded the Roman section of the CAI together with Sella in 1873 (the word ‘Sezione Romana’ also appears on the page on display). Another individual mentioned in the letter is the eminent Sicilian lawyer Francesco Tenerelli Contessa (1839 – 1899), who served as Secretary of the Ministry of National Education and also lived to become a Senator. Tenerelli is mainly remembered for a remarkable speech he gave in 1863 during the trial against the ‘Bronte rioters’, i.e. the people of the eponymous Sicilian town who had been accused of having caused disorder for issues related to the division of land. During the speech, Tenerelli sustained, amidst public clamour, that it was not the people who were to blame, but the conservative bourgeoisie who, together with the Bourbon dynasty, had impeded progress and favoured anachronistic privilege. The speech included the famous motto: ‘l’uomo è l’artefice dei suoi destini!!!’ [Man is master of his own destiny].

Sella, Quintino, 1827-1884 (sender)
Gay, H. Nelson (Harry Nelson), 1870-1932 (recipient)

No date

2 sheets

manuscript

paper

eng

autographs (manuscripts)
letters (correspondence)
copies (documents)

Undated

Gift of Harry Nelson Gay.

KSH

Archive

DAA-9.16