Guglielmo Acton

Guglielmo Acton (25 March 1825, in Castellammare di Stabia – 29 November 1896, in Naples) was an Italian naval officer, admiral and politician in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and then Minister of the Navy in the unified Kingdom of Italy from 1870 to 1871.

Serving in the Two Sicilies Real Marina ("Royal Navy") and the Italian Regia Marina ("Royal Navy"), he was descended from a noble family which had originated in England before moving to Tuscany, then part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

His grandfather was General Joseph Edward Acton (1737–1830), brother of Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet, commander of the naval forces of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and prime minister of the Kingdom of Naples. His elder brother was Ferdinando Acton, who also served as the Italian Minister of the Navy, and his nephew was Alfredo Acton, a Regia Marina admiral. His sister Laura remarried in 1864, marrying Marco Minghetti, then prime minister of Italy.