Leone Gouin

Leone Gouin was born in Tours, France, in 1829. He arrived on the island in 1858 to study the problems related to the mining world, which in those years aimed at increasing its production decisively with the introduction of foreign capital, which had recently occurred massively.
The Frenchman arrived in Sardinia with the qualification of engineer, but he is a passionate expert in archeology and a collector of ancient objects. His “Observations on the mines of Sardinia”, addressed to the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, are a careful examination of the main problems affecting the sector, potentially growing, but bound by structural deficiencies that do not allow its development. He then laments the lack of industrial mentality, of cooperation between the parties; the Sardinian mines” need many conditions that are not available here: intelligence and practice of the trade, enormous capital, perseverance and above all a spirit of association. Now how can we find such conditions in a country where there are owners who own less than one hectare of land, where the industrial spirit has not yet been born, where it is almost impossible to agree, with each other, four of these owners?”
He accuses the government of leaving Sardinia abandoned to its hardships, of not caring about the condition of roads, railways, canals and water in general, of being too invasive with the bureaucracy that slows down the stipulation of permits and concessions with useless formalities: “The Government must restrict itself to the fact that in this location, in which it was asked to search for minerals, and the subsequent permission, a metal deposit is recognized, and nothing else.” He hopes that the situation will be addressed with commitment as soon as possible: “Purposes of freedom, security, and especially that the misunderstood special interest will generously yield to the interest of all.”
His essentially appears to be an economist's view, aimed at understanding the core of the problems that slow down production and lower incomes, not interested in the situation of the working world that in those years en masse flows to the Iglesiente, going to constitute a reality of poverty and misery that for a long time remained unknown to the society of the second half of the nineteenth century, but also acquired over time a new mentality and a class consciousness that would lead to the social revolts of 1904.

Update

25/6/2026 - 13:29