Victor Emmanuel II of Italy

About Victor Emmanuel II of Italy

Victor Emmanuel II (1820–1878) was the first king of a unified Italy, a pivotal political figure whose reign culminated in the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. As the leader of the Risorgimento movement, his efforts consolidated the various states of the Italian peninsula, fundamentally reshaping the modern European map. This immense historical accomplishment secures his ranking at #754 in MIT's Historical Popularity Index, placing him among the most consequential figures of the 19th century.

Despite his foundational role in the creation of a major European nation, Victor Emmanuel II's current internet footprint is modest. In 2025, his annualized Wikipedia pageviews totaled only 110K, marking a notable attention gap of -3x relative to his historical significance. To put this into perspective, he garners significantly less modern attention than contemporary politician Dwight D. Eisenhower (#814 importance), who captured 3.6M views this year, or even Saparmurat Niyazov (#883 importance), who still drew 331K views.

This underattention appears to be deepening; interest in the first King of Italy is trending downward, with a 21.6% year-over-year decline in views and a sharp 29% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting his legacy continues to fade from the digital public consciousness.