The interest of Crispi in local administration issues has deep roots, related to the family tradition, to law studies and to the legal profession. Through the analysis of the main stages of Crispi’s political education and experience in pre-unification period in particular two elements emerge: the great technical skill of the politician from the early years of legal studies; the continuity that links the different stages of the Sicilian statesman’s long political life. The '48 is a decisive moment in the biography of Crispi: he was elected member of Ribera in the General Parliament.The years of political emigration will beeven more important: his reflection on the reasons for the failure of the revolution will be crucial in directing his following choices.
Keywords: Crispi, 1848, municipalism, local administration, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies