Antonio Mazzarosa
Antonio Mazzarosa (Lucca, 29 September 1780 – Lucca, 27 March 1861) was an Italian politician and intellectual. Early life Antonio Mazzarosa was born in Lucca on 29 September 1780. His birth family name was Mansi and he was the sixth son of Giovan Battista Mansi, a Lucchese patrician, and Caterina Massoni. He took the name Mazzarosa at the age of 20, when he was adopted by the marchese Francesco Mazzarosa, who had no sons and wished to avoid the extinction of his line. The adoption made Antonio the heir of a noteworthy patrimony and permitted him a promising political career. Career In 1799 the Republic of Lucca was occupied by the French and transformed into a Jacobin democracy. The young Mazzarosa was an attentive observer of the events of those years and admired the strict, but moderate regime that was installed with the creation of the Principality of Lucca and Piombino. At the time of the collapse of the Napoleonic power in Italy, Mazzarosa was chosen by the reconstituted Senate of the Republic to become part of the Provisory Government of the Lucchese States (May 1814). In fact though power was exercised by the commanders of the Austrian troops who