Nature Conservation, Political Events, and Diplomatic Activity. George Perkins Marsh in Italy, 1861-1882.

Abstract

This essay is divided into two parts. PART ONE, written in 2013, is intended for European readers, chiefly Italian, and is the completion of PART TWO, that was intended for American readers and prepared, in 2012, for the Conference at the Stevens Institute of Technology (USA) titled 'George Perkins Marsh: An American for All Seasons'. For this paper PART TWO has been changed and enlarged. George Perkins Marsh: from Vermont to Italy. 23rd July 2012 was the hundred and thirtieth anniversary of the death of George Perkins Marsh (Woodstock March 15, 1801 – Vallombrosa July 23, 1882). In this Essay the attention is concentrated particularly on George Perkins Marsh and Italy, where his masterpiece ‘Man and Nature’ was completed and also translated into Italian from the first American edition of 1864. George Perkins Marsh, citizen of the United States (born in Vermont), well-known as one of the pioneers of the Conservation Movement, is not always sufficiently renowned as a statesman and an adroit and influential diplomat. On the contrary, during his Office in Italy and at the time of his decease he was of great political and cultural importance and had a following in the newborn unified Italian State. Italian readers, in particular, would find it relevant to deepen their knowledge about George Perkins Marsh’s political and diplomatic career especially because he lived in Italy from June 1861, in the role of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Kingdom of Italy, until his death in July 1882. It is true that in 2011 George Perkins Marsh was sometimes remembered on the occasion of the Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Italian Unification, but actually the memory of him had considerably diminished in Italy in the course of the 20th Century, although American Geography of the second half of the 20th century had started to renew its own interest in his teachings and to delve into his cultural legacy.