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Giuseppe Lechi | |
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| Born | (1766-12-05)5 December 1766 |
| Died | 9 August 1836(1836-08-09) (aged 69) |
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| Spouse | Eleonora |
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Giuseppe ("Joseph")Lechi (5 December 1766 – 9 August 1836) was anItaliangeneral in theKingdom of Italy during theNapoleonic Wars.
Born inAspes and being the first son of Faustino Lechi and his wife Doralice Bielli, the general Giuseppe Lechi was already considered a man of great light and shadows ("dark and gloomy"), reckless and unscrupulous similar to his uncle the CountGalliano Lechi,[a] who was very dear, and a model, to Giuseppe. His grandfatherPietro was a famousFreemason and a follower of theEnlightenment[1] and his sisterFrancesca Lechi was an Italian revolutionary, figure in Milanese society and mistress ofJoachim Murat.[2]
Lechi pursued a military career in the Austrian army, reaching the rank of captain. Upon the arrival ofNapoleon in Italy, influenced also by his brother Giacomo, Giuseppe organized with his other brothersTeodoro andAngelo and other friends – all of them members of the "Casino dei Buoni Amici" free-masonic secret society – theBresciana revolution of 18 March 1797.
Giuseppe entered the temporary government of Brescia and organized the Brescian Legion, which Napoleon sent to fight inEmilia and theMarche, and then in Central Italy.
It was inCittà di Castello, in 1798, that happened the famous episode of the discussed donation ofRaphael's painting "The Marriage of the Virgin" to Giuseppe Lechi by the City Council.[b]
In the spring of 1799, Giuseppe Lechi, with his unit, was engaged in a military campaign inValtellina, attempting to curb an anti-French revolt. Forced to retreat by the Austro-Russians, he joined theItalian Legion of GeneralPietro Teulié inDijon.
Back in Italy with Napoleon he fought atMarengo (14 June 1800) where he was promoted to the rank ofdivision general on the field itself.
After thePeace of Lunéville (9 February 1801) he became commander of division under Joachim Murat and one of his friends, followers and advisors. At the same time, Giuseppe entered the new legislative body of theItalian Republic.
More and more bound up with the "Murat's circle", General Lechi joined theMasonry of theScottish Rite (becoming the Great Master of theGrand Lodge of Naples) and those groups of patriots who supported the ideal of theItalian unification.
In 1806, Giuseppe Lechi participated in theconquest of the Kingdom of Naples, fighting in theAdriatic regions under generalSaint-Cyr. In 1805, he was again in Naples with Murat andJoseph Bonaparte, to whom too he would become closely tied by friendship and personal fidelity.
In 1808 and 1809, Lechi was in Spain at the service ofJoseph Bonaparte, who had yielded theKingdom of Naples to Murat. When Joseph conquered the city ofBarcelona, Lechi was temporarily the governor there.
In 1809, he faced a trial in France (for claims of violence, embezzlement, and abuse) but escaped the judgment and was sent back to Naples at the service of his friend, the new king, Joachim Murat.
Lechi was also involved in the conspiracies of GeneralDomenico Pino, likely as a link to Murat himself in the plot.
On 31 January 1814, Giuseppe was governor ofTuscany, handing overLivorno to the English Fleet in an attempt made by Murat to bargain a separate peace with Austria. In 1815, "Joseph" Lechi was, as always, at Murat's side in his last and hopeless stand against the Austrians at theBattle of Tolentino (2–3 May 1815). As a prisoner of war, Lechi refused to swear any fidelity to the newHabsburgic regime and remained imprisoned inLjubljana until 1818.
Freed, Lechi settled down in his family's Villa ofMontirone nearBrescia and married Eleonora, daughter ofJoseph Jérôme, Comte Siméon. He then died of cholera in 1836 inMontirone.[3]
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