Giuseppe Dezza

Giuseppe Dezza (February 28 1830 - May 15 1898) was an Italian general and patriot.

Biography

Dezza was born in Melegnano, Lombardy. He was a volunteer in the First Battalion of Italian Students of the provisional Lombard government of 1848, and fought in the war against the Austrian Empire which broke out that year.

In 1851 he graduated in Engineering and Architecture in Pavia. In 1859 he again enrolled as volunteer in the Cacciatori delle Alpi corps, obtaining the grade of second lieutnant and a Silver Medal for Military Value. In 1860 he took part to Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand which led to the unification of Italy, quickly reaching the grade of colonel.

In the newly-formed Italian Army he obtained the command of the 29th Infantry Regiment which he led in the Battle of Custoza (1866). Two years later he became major general, at the head of the Pisa Brigade. In 1872 he was King's Field Lieutnant and, in 1877, lieutnant general, being assigned as commander of the Milano Division. In 1886 Dezza was commander of the VII Army Corps, and later of the XII, VI and III Corps.

In 1895 he was elected member of the Italian Parliament as deputy and, from 1889, senator.

He died in Milan in 1898.