Military figure. He was an Italian general, Marshal of Italy and Count, most famous for being the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army from 1914 until 1917 during World War I. Cadorna inherited a difficult political and military situation. The government of Premier Antonio Salandra favored initial neutrality over Italy's treaty commitments under the Triple Alliance. Cadorna was accordingly obliged to reverse long-established strategic plans while discovering that the army was ill-prepared for war against Austria-Hungary and Germany. In particular large numbers of men and quantities of equipment had been deployed to Tripolitania leaving the home army disorganized.

Cadorna launched four offensives in 1915, all along the Isonzo River. The goal of these offensives was the fortress of Gorizia, the capture of which would permit the Italian armies to pivot south and march on Trieste or continue on to the Ljubljana Gap. Many offensives failed, resulting in some 250,000 Italian casualties before capturing the city in 1916. Cadorna would ultimately fight eleven battles on the Isonzo between 1915 and 1917, comprising one outright victory, six tactical victories or limited advances, three inconclusive offensives, and one defeat. Additional forces were arrayed along the Trentino salient, attacking towards Rovereto, Trento, and Bolzano. These attacks also failed. The terrain along the Isonzo and Trentino was completely unsuited for offensive warfare– mountainous and broken, with no room for maneuvering. After the war, the Italian government held an inquiry to investigate the defeat at Caporetto. It was published in 1919 and was highly critical of Cadorna, at that time a bitter man busy with writing his own memoirs. Cadorna claimed that he had no responsibility for the defeat, despite fleeing to Padua during the battle and abandoning the entire Italian Second Army to its fate. Nevertheless, he was made a Field Marshal (Maresciallo d'Italia) in 1924 after Benito Mussolini seized power.

Cadorna died in Bordighera in 1928.