The proclamation in March 1861 of a single Italian state - the Kingdom of Italy - became an epoch-making event in the history of Europe. The first government of Italy was headed by Count Camillo di Cavour, who played an exceptional role in the annals of the country and in the Risorgimento movement. An irresistible desire for a goal, strength of character, courage, love of freedom, extraordinary intelligence, insight, wisdom in solving the most important issues - this is just a small characteristic of Cavour the politician, who became a symbol of his time. This book is the first detailed biography in Russian of the great Italian statesman, whom the outstanding composer Giuseppe Verdi called “Prometheus of our national movement.”