Giuseppe Mazzini

Mazzini met Giuditta Bellerio Sidoli in 1831 during his stay at Marseille. She was a widow and Mazzini fell in love with her. In 1840, tired of Mazzini’s tumultuous life, Sidoli abandoned him to return to her children in Italy. Mazzini at that time was putting up in London.

Mazzini breathed his last in Pisa in 1872. Pleurisy is said to the cause of his death. His funeral was held in Genoa and was attended by more than 100, 000 people.

Mazzini was a legendary hero of his country during his earlier years. But the reputation soon declined as he was tagged by many of his compatriots as the enemy of the state. Two decades post his death; historians believed that the best of Mazzini was until 1849. However, the modern view thinks otherwise. Historians of the present age think of Mazzini’s plots as highly valuable as they were aimed at calling for a Free and United Italy.

Giuseppe Mazzini was born to Giacomo Mazzini and Maria Drago in Genoa, under the rule of the French Empire. His father was a university professor who strictly followed the Jacobin ideology. On the other hand, his mother was known over for her good looks and religious fervour.

Since the young age, Mazzini had developed an interest in politics and literature. Educationally, he had excellent learning ability which explains his premature entry at the University at the age of 14.

Mazzini graduated in law the year 1826. He started off his career as a ‘poor man’s lawyer’. While law seemed to be his profession, Mazzini had developed an inherent interest in writing and drama so much so that he aimed to be a historical novelist and dramatist as well.

Bringing to life his long-awaited desire, Mazzini wrote his first essay titled, ‘Dell'amor patrio di Dante’ (On Dante's Patriotic Love). The same was published only in the year 1837.

The following year, Mazzini moved to Tuscany, where he became a member of the Carbonari, a secret association with political purposes. However, he was arrested for his involvement and interned at Savona. It was during his days as a prisoner that Mazzini developed the outlines of a new patriotic movement, with an aim to replace the Carbonari.

In 1831, Mazzini moved to Marseille, where he lived at the apartment of Giuditta Bellerio Sidoli, a beautiful Modenese widow. The popularity of Mazzini grew steadily among other Italian exiles therein.

With the help of Sidoli, he founded a society called, ‘La giovine Italia’ or ‘Young Italy’. The organization was aimed at promoting Italian unification. Mazzini was of the belief that such an organization would help create a unified Italy by turning into a European-wide revolutionary movement.

Young Italy’s motto was ‘God and the People’ and its basic principle was confederation of several states and kingdoms into a single republic. He strongly believed that it was the sole and true foundation for Italian liberty, freedom and independence.

The motto and principle of Young Italy met with a positive response in cities like Tuscany, Abruzzi, Sicily, Piedmont and Liguria as more and more military officers became aligned with the organization. By 1833, the number peaked at 60, 000 followers with several branches.

Having gained sufficient support, Mazzini’s first attempt for revolution was ready to be launched spreading to the cities of Chamb�ry, Alessandria, Turin and Genoa. However, Savoy government discovered the plot before it could come into action and arrested several revolutionaries. The activists were treated in an extremely hard fashion.

Mazzini’s initial years at London were spent reviving the Giovine Italia and issuing the Apostolato popolare ‘Apostleship of the People’. He was highly discouraged by the defeats he had met with earlier and succumbed to them.

It was with the help of his mother that Mazzini founded several organizations on the lines of Young Europe, such as Young Germany, Young Poland, Young Switzerland and so on. He was even involved with the initialization of an Italian school for the poor people.

The new found hope ignited in Mazzini the dream for a unified continent and independent nations. For the same, he wrote letters and started reconciling with his friends in Europe and South America. He even inspired a group of young Turkish army cadets and students.

In 1843, Mazzini organized yet another riot in Bologna but it met with the same result as the predecessors. However, the effort did not get wasted as Mazzini attracted popularity and support from the British liberals who were outraged as the information about the riot was leaked to the Austrian and Neapolitan government by British government officials.

Shifting base back to London, Mazzini wrote a long ‘open letter’ to Pope Pius IX. However, the latter did not reply to Mazzini’s letter. It was during this time that Mazzini founded the People’s International League.