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Victor Emmanuel II, (born March 14, 1820, Turin, Piedmont, Kingdom of Sardinia—died January 9, 1878, Rome, Italy), king of Sardinia–Piedmont who became the first king of a united Italy. Brought up in the court of his father, Charles Albert, and given a conventional monarchical education emphasizing religious and military training, he was ...

Victor Emmanuel II (1820-1878) was king of Sardinia from 1849 to 1861 and then the first king of Italy until 1878. He worked to free Italy from foreign control and became a central figure of the movement for Italian unification.

Table of Contents. Italy - Unification, Risorgimento, Nation-State: In Piedmont Victor Emmanuel II governed with a parliament whose democratic majority refused to ratify the peace treaty with Austria. This was an exception to the general course of reaction.

On 9 May 1946, in a last-ditch attempt to save the monarchy, Victor Emmanuel formally abdicated in favour of his son, who became Umberto II. It did not work; the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946 was won by republicans with 54% of the vote. Victor Emmanuel went into exile in Egypt, dying there a year later.

Victor Emmanuel II. Alinari/Art Resource, New York. (1820–1878) was the first king of a united Italy. He was born in Turin. During the reign of his father, Charles Albert (1798–1849), the island kingdom of Sardinia was united with the kingdom of Piedmont on the Italian mainland.