Leandro Malaspina, Duke of Atri

Leandro Rinaldo Malaspina (Fontanigorda, Republic of Genoa, 16 June 1758 - Turin, Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, 30 December 1837), Duke of Atri and of Miranda, Marquis of Giulianova, Chairman and Attorney General of the Academy of London.

"It's funny how few decades can turn the world upside down. I thought my valley was too tight to contain my dreams, so I ran away, but when I finally paused for breath, I realized my dreams were not the same anymore. I collected titles, honours and important positions, but at the end of the day, when I open the doors of my room, and when I softly fall asleep surrounded by my rich damask sheets, my thoughts always reach my dear old valley so far away. And even if my sweet lovely pansies now are all gone, strangled by the industrial revolution, my spirit still runs up on the hills, playing with the wind, and following the river Trebbia in its eternal ad peaceful flowing."

L.R. Malaspina's diary, last entry, 26 December 1837