Early Life
Crispi’s paternal family came originally from the small agricultural community of Palazzo Adriano, in south-western Sicily. It had been founded in later fifteenth century by Catholic Albanians (later Arbëreshë), who settled in Sicily after the Ottoman occupation of Albania. Crispi himself was born in Ribera, Sicily, to Tommaso Crispi, a grain merchant and Giuseppa Genova; he was baptised as a Greek Orthodox. Belonging to a family of Albanian descent, he spoke Italian as his third language. His uncle Giuseppe wrote the first monograph on the Albanian language.
He studied law and literature at the University of Palermo receiving a law degree in 1837. He started a career in journalism, but took up a judgeship in Naples in 1845.
Read more about this topic: Francesco Crispi
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