Giovanni Arrivabene

Giovanni Arrivabene (24 June 1787 – 11 January 1881) was an Italian-Belgian politician, and a notable figure in both Italian and Belgian intellectual and political circles.

He was a staunch opponent of Austrian rule in Italy and was suspected of being a member of the revolutionary Carbonari, a secret society advocating for Italian independence.

During his time in England, Arrivabene formed friendships with prominent economists such as James Mill, Thomas Tooke and John Ramsay McCulloch.

[1] He was naturalised as a Belgian citizen in 1841, and four years later, in 1845, he was appointed to a royal commission focused on improving the condition of workers in Belgium.

[2] From 1867 to 1881, he served as the Prefect of the Royal Virgilian Academy,[3] an institution dedicated to the legacy of the Roman poet Virgil, who was born near Mantua.