Mazzini

Mazzini, Giuseppe, the son of a Genoese physician, was born in 1808. He graduated at the university of his native town, and plunged eagerly into the patriotic movement, joining the Carbonari, but soon becoming disgusted with the unpractical methods of that secret society. In 1830 he was arrested by the Sardinian Government and thrown into the fortress of Savona. Here he matured his plan for the formation of a new party, La Giovine Italia ("Young Italy"), which should have for its object the liberation of the country from foreign and domestic tyranny, the establishment of a republic, and the proclamation of the rights and duties of man. On his release he began action at once by addressing from Marseilles a letter to Charles Albert, who, however, banished him from his dominions. Later on Louis Philippe expelled him from Prance. He now settled at Geneva, where he edited L'Europe Centrals and organised an expedition under General Ramorino to rescue Savoy, taking part himself in that wretched fiasco, and being condemned to death in his absence. In 1837, banished from Switzerland, he arrived in London, whence he directed the efforts of his disciples, and published his treatise on The Duties of Man. An intercepted letter of his in 1844 led to the detection of the Bandiera conspiracy and the execution of its unhappy authors. In 1848 he joined Garibaldi in the war against Austria. He was a member of the Provisional Government of Tuscany, and of the Roman Triumvirate in 1849, but had to yield to French arms, and return once more to England. As president of the National Italian Committee he promoted the insurrections of 1852-53, and the Genoese rising of 1857, for yvhich he was a second time sentenced to death. The successful policy of Cavour proved fatal to his aspirations, and the unification of Italy was effected without his aid. He refused to sit in the Italian Parliament, or to accept his pardon at the hands of the king, but was permitted to reside in Italy, and died at Pisa in 1872.