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Secondo Frola
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was born at Montanaro (Turin) on 27th November 1850. After his primary and secondary school in Chivasso, Frola enlisted at the faculty of Law in the University of Turin.
Student of famous jurists such as Mancini, Melegari, Mattirolo, Frola graduated very young in 1871. He started his legal carrier, as in his family's tradition.
Particularly keen to economic and social issues, very early Frola started to cover administrative and political offices. Appointed in 1881 as a representative of municipalities in Montanaro, Volpiano and San Benigno (Turin), the next year Frola was appointed at the Chamber of Deputies for the second Board of Turin.
Next to the central-leftist group of Depretis, the lawyer mainly cared for financial issues, university and public work questions. Reporter of several legal texts, Frola played a non-secondary role on the lively discussion for resetting the bank system. Under-secretary to the Treasury in 1891 and 1898, Frola became Minister of Mail and Telegraphs in the second Government Di RudinĪ of 1898.
He played a prime role even in the political and administrative life of Turin. Convinced supporter of the technical education, Frola promoted and financed different institutes devoted to the basic professional teaching such as the Popular Electrical School.
From 1897 to 1903 he was president of the Royal Italian Industrial Museum. Under his management, extension works in the Museum were quickly started and ended. The work, entrusted to
Enrico Bonelli, allowed to supply rooms and laboratories which were fully necessary for lodging the large quantity of students who arrived in Turin from all parts of Italy to attemnd classes of industrial Engineering. Appointed as municipal counsellor, Frola was a mayer in Turin from 1905 to 1911. Frola, supported by a group of experts of the School , worked in a far-sighted way favouring the building of infrastructures necessary for the industrial growth of the town.
Leaving the dominating liberist ideology, Frola opened a wide plan of public interventions in the economic management. The energy problem was solved by building an imposing thermo-hudric station next to Chiomonte, able to supply the town with 18 millions Kwh. Municipal waterworks were erected (in Venaria and Pian della Mussa). The tramway network, managed by the private company Alta Italia, became municipal connecting more strictly residential to industrial areas.
Contemporaneously, the town resetting was started. Several abandoned military areas became buildable. The palces for Telephone, Mail and Telegraphs, the bridges on Doro and Po rivers were built. The downtown was redesigned opening via Pietro Micca and starting works to rearrange via Rome. The popular and school building was not neglected. In the end, a remarkable attention was paid to communication lines, favouring the localisation of two new railway stations (in Lingotto and Barriera of Milan), improving the connections with Savona and Genoa, France and Milan. Frola was a mayer again between 1917 and 1918. In next years, he left the active political life to show his extraneousness to the fascism.
He died in Turin on 4 March 1929.
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