Radetzky, Joseph, Count

(born Nov. 2, 1766, Trebnice, Bohemia—died Jan. 5, 1858, Milan) Austrian army officer. He fought with distinction against the French in the Napoleonic Wars. As army chief of staff, he attempted to modernize the Austrian army. As commander in chief of the Austrian army in northern Italy (1831–57), he suppressed the revolt in the Austrian-ruled provinces of Lombardy and Venetia in 1848. He served as governor-general of these provinces (1849–57). His status among conservatives as a national hero inspired Johann Strauss the Elder to compose the Radetzky March.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica