Friday, 13th December: Luca G. Manenti presents "L’Affaire Prezioso" by Marina Silvestri

At 5:30 PM on Friday, 13th December, at Libreria Minerva (Via San Nicolò 20, Trieste), there will be a presentation of the book "L’Affaire Prezioso: April 1915. The Secret Mission of the Political Director of 'Il Piccolo'" by Marina Silvestri.

This free-entry event will feature a dialogue with the author, Luca G. Manenti, Scientific Director of the Manlio Cecovini Study Society, and Fulvio Senardi.

Through meticulous research, Marina Silvestri reconstructs a little-known yet crucial episode leading up to Italy’s entry into the First World War.

In the months preceding Italy’s involvement in the war, Rome, despite leaning toward the Entente, negotiated with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, offering to maintain neutrality in exchange for territorial concessions. At the same time, with Berlin's encouragement and mediation, Vienna opened discreet channels aimed at garnering support for the neutralist cause among Italian politicians and newspapers.

By mid-April 1915, Austria deemed a stronger move necessary: informing Giovanni Giolitti, leader of the opposition, to secure his parliamentary support for their proposals. Additionally, international diplomatic circles speculated about or even hoped for the fall of the Salandra government.

Leopold von Chlumecky, an Austrian aristocrat and former advisor to Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was entrusted with this mission. Based in Trieste, he enlisted Roberto Prezioso, political director of Il Piccolo, as his trusted intermediary. This episode sheds light on Vienna’s attempts to engage with the liberal-nationalist party's newspaper that dominated the city. Both figures emerge as anything but mere pawns.

About the author:
Marina Silvestri is a writer and journalist who has worked in the editorial offices and programmes of Rai in Rome, Trieste, and Trento. Since the 1990s, she has published both non-fiction and fiction works, including Aurelia Gruber Benco. L’identità europea e la politica della cultura (Ibiskos, Empoli, 2009), Lassù nella Trieste asburgica. La questione dei regnicoli e l'identità rimossa (LEG, Gorizia, 2017), and Linuccia Saba e il cinema, un sogno negato (EUT, Trieste, 2019).