Count Camillo de Cavour Count Camillo de Cavour, a political leader and an Italian statesman, premier of the Kingdom of Sardinia. He was born at Turin on the August 1, 1810. He was the active force behind King Victor Emmanuel II, he was responsible more than any other man for the unification of Italy under the house of Savoy. Of a noble Piedmontese family, he entered the army at the age of 10 but came under suspicion for his liberal ideas and was forced to resign in 1831. He then devoted himself to travel, agricultural experimentation, and the study of politics. He was a significant figure in the movement towards Italian unification and the founder of the original Italian liberal party. Cavour was a liberal and had faith in free trade, public right of opinion and secular rule. So on becoming the Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia on November 4, 1852 Cavour strengthened the kingdom, reform taxation, stabilized the currency, and the improved the railway system. In 1853, He supported the French and British in the Crimean War with troops, in anticipation to enhance the prestige of Piedmont-Sardinia. He engineered a tactful diplomatic alliance with France which helped Sardinia piedmont in defeated Austrian force in 1859. Count Camillo de Cavour made considerable efforts of the creation of modern Italian state. But unfortunately he died only three months after the declaration of a united Italy on June 6, 1861.