Giovanni Giolitti was a politician from which country?

Giovanni Giolitti (Mondovì, October 27, 1842 – Cavour, July 17, 1928) was an Italian politician who served five terms as Prime Minister, the second longest-serving in Italian history after Benito Mussolini.

He was a prominent figure, first of the historical left and then of the Liberal Union. Considered one of the most powerful and important politicians in Italian history for his long-standing dominance in national politics, Giolitti was accused by his many critics of being an authoritarian ruler and a parliamentary dictator.

Giolitti was a master of the political art of trasformismo, the method of creating a flexible, centrist governing coalition that isolated the far left and far right in Italian politics after unification. Under his influence, the Italian Liberals did not develop as a structured party: instead, they were a series of informal personal groupings with no formal ties to political constituencies. The period between the early 20th century and the outbreak of the First World War, when he served as Prime Minister and/or Minister of the Interior from 1901 to 1914, with brief interruptions, is known as the "Giolitti era." He was also a point of reference for the neutralist faction during the period of neutrality and, after the intervention, remained on the sidelines until the end of the conflict.