Pietro Micca

Pietro Micca[1] (6 March 1677 – 30 August 1706), also known as Pierre Micha, was an Italian soldier who became a national hero of the Duchy of Savoy for his sacrifice in the defence of Turin against the French troops.

On the night of 29–30 August 1706, a party of French grenadiers crept into a large trench, which had been the site of a failed assault on the citadel.

On hearing the French attack, Micca and a comrade barred a door at the top of the steps leading down to the lower level of the mines.

Micca was severely injured in the explosion and died due to his injuries and poisonous carbon dioxide gas, which had been released by the exploding gunpowder.

But, according to Count Giuseppe Solaro della Margherita, the commander of the Turin garrison at the time, it was through a miscalculation of the pace of the fuse, and not by deliberate intent, that he sacrificed his life.