Mazzini, Giuseppe (1805-1872)

Mazzini, Giuseppe

REVOLUTIONARY, PATRIOT (ITALY)

BORN 22 Jun 1805, Genova, Liguria - DIED 10 Mar 1872, Pisa, Toscana
CAUSE OF DEATH pleurisy
GRAVE LOCATION Genova, Liguria: Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno, Piazzale Resasco (Boschetto Irregolare)

Guiseppe Mazzini was the son of Giacomo Mazzini, a professor at the university and a mother, Maria Drago, who was known for her beauty. The young Manzini entered university when he was fourteen years old and he graduated in 1826. In 1827 he joined the Carbonari in Tuscany but he was soon arrested at Genoa an imprisoned at Savona.

Early in 1831 he was released and he went exile in Geneva in Switzerland. He moved on to Marseille where he moved among Italian exiles. Giuditta Bellerio Sidoli, a widow from Modena, became his lover. She gave birth to a son Joseph in 1832 (d.1835) and he was almost certainly the father.

He started a new political society, La giovine Italia. They planned a plot but it was discovered before it could be executed and his friend Jacopo Ruffini killed himself. Mazzini was sentenced to death in absence. In 1834 he founded another group in Bern. He was arrested at Solothurn and exiled from Switzerland. He went to Paris where he was imprisoned once more. After he promised to go to England he was released.

In 1837 he arrived in London, where he lived in poverty. Sidoli left him to return to her children in Italy. But he continued his attempts to contribute to a united and independent Italy. In 1843 he organised a riot in Bologna and in 1848 he went to Milan to join the rebellion against the Austrians. His uprisings in Mantua (1852), Milan (1853) and Genoa (1856) failed.

In 1862 he joined Garibaldi in his attemts fo free Rome, but without success. In 1867 herefused a seat Italian Chamber of Deputies. In 1870 he started a rebellion in Sicily but he was once more arrested. Later that year he was released and he returned to London. He condemned the Paris Commune in 1871 and referred to Karl Marx as 'an old ass'. He died in Pisa in 1872.

Family
• Father: Mazzini, Giacomo

Related persons
• knew Blind, Karl
• was a friend of Herzen, Aleksandr Ivanovitsj
• was a friend of Meysenbug, Malvida, Freiin von
• was helped by Panizzi, Anthony
• was visited by Robecchi, Giulio

Events

3/7/1849

The French troops conquer Rome. Pope Pio IX was expelled by revolutionary Italians and Rome was occupied by an army led by Garibaldi afterwards. France sent troops to help the pope, but they were surprised by the army of 8,000 Italians and driven back. In Paris the parliament protested against the interventions and riots broke out. Eventually Garibaldi wasn't able to defend the city after Oudinot started using heavy artillery and they entered Rome in the night of 29 to 30 June. Mazzini was forced to flee to England and on 3 July Rome surrendered to Oudinot. [Napoleon III Bonaparte][Oudinot, Charles, 2nd Duc de Reggio]

Images
Bust of Mazzini at the Famedio, Cimitero Monumentale, Milan. Picture by Androom (26 Jan 2007)	Statue of Giuseppe Mazzini in Genoa. Picture by androom (02 Mar 2014)	The grave of Giuseppe Mazzini at the Cimitero monumentale di Staglieno, Genoa. Picture by androom (03 Mar 2014)