Fiorenzo Bava-Beccaris (17 March 1831-8 April 1924) was a general of the Royal Italian Army during the 19th century. He was responsible for the infamous Bava-Beccaris massacre of 1898.
Biography[]
Fiorenzo Bava-Beccaris was born in Fossano, Kingdom of Sardinia to an aristocratic family, and he served in the Sardinian Army during the Crimean War and the Italian Wars of Independence. In May 1898, Bava-Beccaris took command of the garrison of Milan during bread riots in the city, and he had popular dissent put down by the Royal Italian Army. Anywhere from 80 to 400 people were killed in the brutal repression of the riots, and he was appointed to the Italian Senate and honored by King Umberto I of Italy. He would support Italy's entry into World War I, as well as backing Benito Mussolini and the Blackshirts during their rise to power in 1922. He died in 1924.