Bettino Ricasoli, baron, an Italian statesman, born in Florence, March 9, 1809. He became known in 1847 as an advocate of constitutional liberty, and was chosen mayor of Florence. In 1848 he was elected to the Tuscan parliament. He opposed the extreme radicals, and after the disastrous battle of Novara (March 23, 1849) he favored the restoration of the grand duke of Tuscany as a barrier against Austrian invasion; but the reactionary policy of the latter soon drove him from political life. In 1859 he hastened the overthrow of the grand duke, and as a member of the provisional government he brought about the union of Tuscany with Sardinia, and became Victor Emanuel's chief representative and afterward governor general at Florence. On the death of Cavour in June, 1861, he succeeded him as prime minister, with several portfolios, holding the post till March, 1862; and he was again premier in 1866-7. He was reelected to the Italian parliament in September, 1874, having first entered that body in 1861.