WHAT FAMOUS FOR Pioneering French aviator, WWI flying ace, and the first person to fly across the Mediterranean Sea. Posthumously, his name was given to the French Open tennis stadium in Paris.
BIRTH Born October 6, 1888 in Saint-Denis, Réunion, France, on Rue de l'Arsenal (now Rue Roland-Garros). Garros spent his early childhood on this French island in the Indian Ocean before moving to Saigon, Vietnam, at age 4 with his family.
FAMILY BACKGROUND Roland Garros was born to French parents who were keen musicians and hoped their son would become a concert pianist. His father, Georges Garros, was an ambitious lawyer who moved the family to Saigon when Roland was young. His mother was named Eugénie
CHILDHOOD His childhood was marked by his separation from his family when sent to boarding school in Paris at age 11, an experience that left him crying "tears of rage at his father and tears of sadness for his mother". (1)
At age 12, Garros contracted severe pneumonia and was sent to Cannes on the French Riviera to recover. During his convalescence, he took up cycling to restore his health and soon won an inter-school championship in the sport.
During his student years, he also became a keen tennis player and regularly visited the Stade Français tennis center. Football and rugby rounded out his athletic pursuits during his youth.
EDUCATION His father made the decision to send Roland to a Parisian boarding school without consulting his mother, causing the 11-year-old boy significant emotional distress.
Garros attended the prestigious Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris for his secondary education. He then enrolled at HEC Paris (École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) in 1906, where he graduated in 1908 with a degree in business studies.
At HEC Paris, he met classmate Émile Lesieur, with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. Lesieur sponsored Garros to enter the exclusive Stade Français club.
CAREER RECORD 1909 Garros began flying with a Demoiselle monoplane.
1911 He set an altitude record of 18,410 feet
1913 On September 23, 1913, Garros became the first person to fly across the Mediterranean Sea.
1914-1918 During WWI, he became a combat pilot and helped pioneer forward-firing machine gun technology. Captured in 1915, he escaped in 1918 and returned to combat before being killed later that year.
APPEARANCE Contemporary accounts describe Garros as a slender figure with black curly hair, dark eyes, and a neatly trimmed moustache that became part of his public image. He was noted for his distinctive appearance and became a recognizable figure in Parisian society.
Roland Garros in front of a Demoiselle plane in 1910
FASHION Pre-war Paris knew him as a dapper boulevardier who wore tailored suits when dining at Maxim's.
For flying, Garros wore functional garments designed for warmth and protection in open cockpits, such as leather flying helmets, goggles, and heavy leather jackets. These items were not just practical but also became iconic symbols of the daring aviator.
CHARACTER Garros was described as audacious, inventive, and famously persistent. He carved Voltaire's maxim "La victoire appartient au plus opiniâtre" ("Victory belongs to the most persevering") on his propellers and lived by it. Contemporary accounts portray him as someone who "never did anything by halves", with an unquenchable passion for aviation and a determination to push boundaries.
SPEAKING VOICE Air-show reporters described an eloquent, carrying baritone when he addressed crowds after record flights, though no recordings survive. He was fluent in English, having spent several summers across the English Channel, which aided his international aviation career.
SENSE OF HUMOUR Friends recalled an irrepressible wit and flair for repartee in Parisian cafés. His correspondence suggests a man capable of levity despite the serious nature of his wartime service.
RELATIONSHIPS Garros maintained a lifelong friendship with HEC classmate Émile Lesieur, who later became president of Stade Français and was instrumental in naming the tennis stadium after Garros.
A pre-war romance with socialite Marcelle Gorge was noted in society columns, but he never married..
Garros moved in artistic circles that included Misia Sert and Jean Cocteau, both of whom memorialized his life after his death.
MONEY AND FAME Garros was a celebrated figure in early aviation, gaining international fame for his daring flights—especially his historic crossing of the Mediterranean. Though not immensely wealthy, he had the means to fully immerse himself in aviation, thanks to prize money from air races, proceeds from exhibition tours, and a profitable car dealership near the Arc de Triomphe. His business sense shone through in the success of that dealership, located at 5 Avenue de la Grande Armée.
His fame soared after the Mediterranean feat and endured long after his death, memorialized by the Roland-Garros tennis stadium, Réunion’s international airport, and even a line of special-edition Peugeot cars that bear his name.
FOOD AND DRINK A regular at Maxim's during its glory years, Garros favoured fine Bordeaux and the restaurant's celebrated seafood platters—standard fare for Parisian high society of the Belle Époque. His dining habits reflected his status among the fashionable set of pre-war Paris. (2)
MUSIC AND ARTS A competent pianist from a musical family, his parents had originally hoped he would pursue a career as a concert pianist. Wartime letters mention evenings of chamber music in Paris salons, indicating his continued appreciation for the arts.
Garros moved in artistic circles that included prominent cultural figures of the time. The famous French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau dedicated a text titled "Le Cap de Bonne-Espérance" (The Cape of Good Hope) to Roland Garros, inspired by his epic Mediterranean crossing
LITERATURE Garros was an avid reader of Enlightenment authors, particularly Voltaire, whose writings supplied his famous motto about victory belonging to the most persevering. However, he published no literary works of his own.
NATURE His passion for altitude and open skies was matched by long cycling excursions along the Riviera during his convalescence from pneumonia. Garros' love of nature was evident in his choice of aviation as a career, seeking the freedom of flight and the challenge of conquering natural barriers like the Mediterranean Sea.
HOBBIES AND SPORTS Garros was an accomplished athlete who competed in cycling, football, rugby, and tennis. He was particularly noted for his cycling prowess, having won inter-school championships. His involvement with rugby at Stade Français was facilitated by his friendship with Émile Lesieur. Garros also engaged in early automobile racing.
Roland Garros winning his inter-school cycling championship by Perplexity
SCIENCE AND MATHS Garros’s collaboration with engineer Raymond Saulnier showcased his keen technical mind and innovative spirit. He didn’t just fly aircraft—he understood their mechanics. When faced with the challenge of mounting a machine gun to fire forward through a spinning propeller, Garros recognized that Saulnier’s early design still allowed about 7% of bullets to strike the blades. Applying sharp analytical thinking, Garros refined the concept by fitting steel deflector plates to the propeller, allowing bullets to safely glance off without disabling the plane. This breakthrough marked a turning point in aerial warfare, laying the groundwork for future synchronized gun systems and revolutionizing fighter aircraft design. His work was a pioneering blend of applied ballistics, engineering, and aviation strategy.
PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Garros was deeply patriotic and idealistic. Guided by secular stoicism, his oft-quoted Voltaire maxim "Victory belongs to the most persevering" underscored a belief in human perseverance.
POLITICS Apart from fervent patriotism that drew him into military service at the war's outbreak, he showed no partisan political activity. Nevertheless, he became a French national icon and symbol of heroic service to the nation.
AVIATION Roland Garros got into flying the way many people fall into trouble—with a casual visit to something that seemed harmless at the time. In his case, it was the 1909 Reims Air Show, a grand affair full of clattering engines, improbable machines, and men with moustaches far more confident than their flying skills. But for Garros, it was love at first lift-off. He left the show hopelessly smitten with the idea of flight and, as it turned out, was rather good at it.
He started flying the Demoiselle, or “Dragonfly”—a dainty-looking monoplane dreamt up by the eccentric Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont. It was, to be generous, a glorified kite with an engine, and it flew only if the pilot was sufficiently light, wiry, and preferably had no fear of death. Fortunately, Garros ticked all three boxes.
Despite the primitive technology (the wings were basically stretched linen and prayer), Garros proved a natural. By 1910, he had earned pilot’s license No. 147 from the Aéro-Club de France—a club that at the time had more fatalities than graduates—and dove headfirst into the mad world of air races and exhibition flights.
And what a world it was. Imagine trying to fly across Europe in a lawn chair tied to a motorcycle engine, while maps blew away in the wind and you navigated by guessing which direction smelled more like Paris. Still, Garros did spectacularly well:
In 1911, he placed second in the Paris-to-Rome race (which, to be clear, involved flying over mountains in a time when altitude was measured more by guesswork than instruments).
In 1912, he won the Circuit de Anjou.
In 1913, he triumphed at the International Air Rally of Monaco, all the while charming crowds with loop-the-loops and death-defying dips.
If that wasn’t enough, Garros was also obsessed with going up. Higher than anyone else, preferably. In 1911, he reached an altitude of 3,950 metres (12,960 feet)—a record at the time. The next year, he bettered himself, ascending to 5,610 metres (18,410 feet), which was roughly the altitude at which your average French pilot could freeze solid if he wasn’t wearing a good scarf.
Then came his pièce de résistance: on September 23, 1913, Garros did something nobody had dared before. He flew non-stop across the Mediterranean—from Fréjus, on the French Riviera, to Bizerte, Tunisia—in a Morane-Saulnier monoplane. The journey took 7 hours and 53 minutes, which doesn’t sound like much until you realise it was basically him, a map, some oil-stained goggles, and a hope that the engine wouldn’t burst into flames somewhere over shark-infested waters.
It was, understandably, front-page news. France fell in love with Garros. He became the poster child for aviation—brave, dashing, and just mad enough to make it all seem possible. By the time World War I broke out, he wasn’t just a pilot—he was a symbol. He had helped turn the airplane from a novelty into something approaching a reliable machine (though still best described as “experimental” if you valued honesty).
In the glorious, dangerous pre-war days of aviation, Roland Garros was exactly the kind of figure who made people look up at the sky and think, “Why not?”
MILITARY RECORD When World War I broke out, Roland Garros, being the sort of chap who didn’t so much flirt with danger as take it out to dinner and propose, immediately signed up for the French Air Corps. He was made a lieutenant and assigned to Escadrille MS 26, where he flew the Morane-Saulnier Type L—a machine that resembled a cross between a canoe and a clothesline, with just enough horsepower to make the cows nervous.
Now, back then, airplanes were mostly used for reconnaissance. The idea of actual air combat was still a bit “science fiction meets amateur carpentry.” If you wanted to shoot at the enemy, the best you could do was bring a revolver and try your luck while leaning precariously out of the cockpit. It was all very sporting and wildly ineffective.
But Garros, never content to leave well enough alone, teamed up with engineer Raymond Saulnier to solve one of aviation’s more pressing problems: how to fire a machine gun forward without turning your propeller into confetti. Their solution was delightfully reckless—attach steel deflector wedges to the propeller blades so that bullets that hit them would bounce off, preferably not into the pilot’s face. It was not elegant, but it worked, and suddenly Garros had turned his airplane into a flying weapon.
In March and April of 1915, Garros returned to the front with his modified aircraft and, in just 18 days, downed five German planes. At a time when most airmen were still figuring out how not to fall out of the sky, this was practically superhero territory. He became the first true fighter pilot—proof that the age of aerial combat had arrived, and that it came with goggles, a scarf, and absolutely no safety precautions.
But fate, as it tends to, intervened. On April 18, 1915, during a routine mission over Belgium, Garros’ engine gave out—possibly thanks to a bullet, possibly because engines at the time were notoriously unreliable and prone to exploding out of sheer boredom. He crash-landed behind enemy lines, tried to set his plane on fire (as one does), but unfortunately failed to burn the bit with the shiny, very secret deflector system. The Germans, quite delighted, carted both Garros and his half-toasted plane away.
Garros was stuck in a series of German POW camps, where he passed the time by attempting multiple escapes with varying degrees of failure. Finally, on Valentine’s Day 1918, after nearly three years, he slipped away disguised as a German officer, fled to the Netherlands, and eventually made it back to France—thinner, wearier, and badly in need of spectacles.
Despite his declining health and worsening eyesight, Garros insisted on returning to combat. He rejoined Escadrille 26, now equipped with the SPAD S.XIII biplane—a far more powerful, if still terrifyingly flammable, machine. On October 2, 1918, he downed two more enemy planes (one confirmed), but it was clear the war—and the technology—had moved on. Younger pilots flew with better planes and better vision. Garros was a legend from an earlier, more romantic (and much deadlier) phase of aerial warfare.
On October 5, 1918, just one day shy of his 30th birthday, Garros was shot down near Vouziers, likely by German ace Hermann Habich. The war ended five weeks later.
SCANDAL When Roland Garros was forced to land behind German lines on April 18, 1915, his Morane-Saulnier Type L monoplane was captured largely intact. Crucially, this aircraft was fitted with Garros’ pioneering deflector system. Garros attempted to destroy his machine but failed, and both he and the aircraft fell into German hands.
The Germans handed the remains of his aircraft to a clever Dutch-born engineer named Anthony Fokker, who took one look and said, “Ah, I can do better.” What followed was the invention of the interrupter gear, which allowed German machine guns to fire through the propeller without hitting anything at all—a far more civilized solution.
Allied outrage followed the capture of his intact Morane-Saulnier aircraft and the German adaptation of his deflector system, which led to the development of the superior Fokker interrupter gear. This inadvertently contributed to German air superiority during the "Fokker Scourge" period, causing controversy about France having "gifted" advanced aviation technology to the enemy.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Garros overcame a childhood bout of pneumonia by throwing himself into sports, developing a physical resilience and athleticism that stayed with him for life. When he returned to combat in 1918, he quietly concealed the fact that he was developing myopia—determined not to be grounded. Years in captivity had taken a visible toll on his health, and his failing eyesight may well have played a role in the final dogfight that cost him his life.
HOMES Birth residence: Saint-Denis, Réunion, on Rue de l'Arsenal (now Rue Roland Garros)
Childhood: Family moved to Saigon, Vietnam, when he was 4 years old
Student years: Boarding school accommodations in Paris
Adult residence: Apartment above his Avenue de la Grande Armée car dealership by 1911
Wartime: Various frontline airfields and German prison camps
TRAVEL After graduating from HEC Paris, he founded his own car dealership in Paris at the age of 21, naming it “Roland Garros Automobiles”. This business was located near the Arc de Triomphe and became a symbol of his entrepreneurial spirit and affinity for modern technology.
On September 18 1913, he became the first private owner of a Bugatti Type 18 "Black Bess," one of the most advanced sports cars of its time and a symbol of modern French chic. Garros also maintained a friendship with Ettore Bugatti, the legendary car designer.
Black Bess by Herranderssvensson
His escape from German captivity involved a dramatic journey through the Netherlands to London before returning to France.
DEATH Garros was shot down and killed near Vouziers in the Ardennes on October 5, 1918—just one day before his 30th birthday and a mere five weeks before the Armistice. His SPAD S.XIII likely fell victim to German ace Hermann Habich, who was flying a Fokker D.VII. During the fierce dogfight, Garros’ aircraft reportedly exploded in mid-air, bringing a sudden and tragic end to the life of one of aviation’s earliest heroes.
He was buried at Vouziers military cemetery, where a monument created by Victor Pierrard was erected in 1924 at his mother's initiative.
APPEARANCES IN MEDIA During his lifetime, Roland Garros's daring aviation feats, particularly his Mediterranean crossing, garnered significant attention in newspapers, magazines, and newsreels of the era. He was a celebrity in the burgeoning age of aviation, and his exploits were widely reported.
Posthumously, his most significant "appearance" in media is through the Roland Garros Stadium and the French Open tennis tournament. The tournament is broadcast globally, and his name is synonymous with one of the four Grand Slam events in tennis.
Roland Garros Airport, Réunion's international airport, bears his name.
Numerous French streets and a plaza in Bizerte, Tunisia, honor his memory
Garros has been the subject of historical documentaries, articles, and books about early aviation and World War I. Jean Cocteau's dedication of "Le Cap de Bonne-Espérance" to him also represents a notable artistic tribute.
ACHIEVEMENTS First flight across the Mediterranean (1913)
World altitude records: 3,950 metres (1911) and 5,610 metres (1912)
Pioneer of forward-firing aircraft guns
French military hero and aviation innovator
Namesake of the French Open tennis stadium and Réunion’s international airport
NAME Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She was later given her famous stage name by MGM.
WHAT FAMOUS FOR She is best known as a legendary actress and singer, especially for her role as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939), and for her powerful voice, emotive performances, and troubled personal life that became part of Hollywood lore.
BIRTH Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm on June 10, 1922, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. She was the youngest of three daughters born to Frank Avent Gumm and Ethel Marian (Milne) Gumm. Her parents had initially considered terminating the pregnancy when Ethel learned she was expecting in fall 1921, but ultimately decided to proceed after medical advice.
FAMILY BACKGROUND Judy's parents were both vaudeville performers. Her father, Frank Avent Gumm, owned and managed the local movie theater in Grand Rapids, where the family frequently performed between film showings.
Her mother, Ethel Marian (Milne) Gumm, was an ambitious woman gifted in playing various musical instruments and served as piano accompanist for the performances. Ethel saw tremendous potential in her youngest daughter and became her driving stage mother.
Judy had two older sisters: Mary Jane (nicknamed Suzy/Suzanne) and Dorothy Virginia.
The family was of English descent, with some Scottish and Irish heritage. Unfortunately, Judy's family life was troubled, largely due to her father's closeted homosexuality and alleged affairs with young men, which forced the family to relocate multiple times. Her parents' marriage was tumultuous, with frequent separations and reconciliations.
CHILDHOOD Judy made her stage debut at age two singing "Jingle Bells" at her father's theater, and had to be forcibly removed from the stage after singing it seven times.
Garland in a costume for her debut performance
By age four, she was performing regularly with her sisters as "The Gumm Sisters".
In 1926, when Judy was four, the family moved to California after rumors about her father's affairs came to light. This relocation marked the end of what Judy later described as "the first four years of my life were the happiest I ever had". From that point, her mother became increasingly focused on making her daughters stars. Judy later described her mother as "the real Wicked Witch of the West" due to her controlling and demanding behavior.
Tragically, Ethel began giving Judy pills around age 8-10 to help her maintain energy for performances and sleep afterward. The family faced financial instability and sometimes lived out of their automobile.
EDUCATION Judy Garland’s formal education was often disrupted by her demanding performance schedule. She attended several schools in Los Angeles, including Lawler's Professional School (1929–1931), Bancroft Junior High, and University High School. Before joining MGM, she also studied at the Hollywood School of Dance.
In 1937, she graduated from Bancroft and briefly enrolled at University High, but her academic pursuits quickly took a backseat to her rising showbiz career. Much of her schooling was done on the MGM lot, where she took classes alongside other child stars like Mickey Rooney. Her heavy workload in acting, singing, and dancing meant college was never really an option.
Garland reportedly had a fondness for social studies and was an avid reader. She especially loved The Wizard of Oz, ghost stories, and poetry, and often enjoyed writing stories of her own.
CAREER RECORD
1929 Judy's professional career began in 1929 when she appeared with her sisters in The Big Revue.
1935 At age 13, she signed a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after Louis B. Mayer heard her sing.
1936 Her first major film was Pigskin Parade
1939 Her breakthrough came with The Wizard of Oz (1939), which made her an international star.
1950 MGM released her from her contract in 1950 due to her unreliability and health issues. She then focused on concert performances,
193-64 She starred in The Judy Garland Show on television
APPEARANCE Judy Garland was notably petite, standing just under 5 feet tall—officially listed at 4 feet 11 inches, though some sources rounded her height to 5 feet. Her small stature often posed challenges in Hollywood, where costume designers had to carefully tailor her outfits to balance her appearance alongside taller co-stars. Her weight fluctuated throughout her life, ranging from 98 to 155 pounds according to studio records, with her measurements during her peak years around 33-22-34.
Despite being within a healthy range for her height, MGM executives fixated on her appearance, frequently criticizing her weight and placing her on extreme diets. At times, they referred to her cruelly as a "fat little pig with pigtails." To maintain a youthful image, the studio routinely strapped down her chest and cinched her waist with corsets.
Garland had a sweet, round face and once described herself with characteristic candor as having "crooked teeth, straight black hair, and the wrong kind of nose." Studio heads attempted to mold her into a more marketable image, even experimenting with cosmetic alterations to make her resemble Shirley Temple.
Garland in a publicity photo for Pigskin Parade (1936)
Years of stress, prescription drug use, and smoking took a toll, and by the time of her death at 47, many remarked that she looked far older than her age.
FASHION Judy Garland’s style journey spanned from wholesome Americana to timeless Hollywood glamour. Her most iconic look remains the blue-and-white gingham dress and ruby slippers she wore as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz—an outfit forever etched into pop culture history.
As she matured into a celebrated stage and screen performer, her fashion embraced elegance and sophistication. Garland favored strapless gowns for concerts and red-carpet appearances, often paired with classic updos, kitten heels, floral prints, and the occasional feather boa. One of her most memorable looks—a periwinkle gown worn in A Star Is Born (1954)—later inspired Lady Gaga’s ensemble at the 2019 Golden Globes.
Offstage, Garland preferred a more understated wardrobe, frequently wearing neutral tones and classic cuts. While many of her contemporaries adopted the flashy trends of the '60s, Garland remained true to a refined, timeless aesthetic. Her stage costumes, however, were often dazzling creations—sequined gowns designed to shimmer under concert spotlights and amplify her larger-than-life presence. (1)
CHARACTER Judy Garland possessed a deeply complex personality, shaped by vulnerability, resilience, and a profound emotional intensity. Onstage and off, she had an engaging presence and a spontaneous approach to performing that made her feel unmistakably real. Colleagues often remarked on her ability to connect with audiences on a raw, emotional level—her performances seemed to give voice to feelings others couldn’t express.
Beneath the sparkle, though, lay deep insecurities. As her career progressed, she could be demanding and at times difficult to work with—traits often amplified by exhaustion, personal struggles, and the relentless pressure of show business.
Even as a child, Garland showed signs of a compulsive drive—an urgent need for approval and affection that never fully left her. Those who knew her best described her as someone who communicated for the audience, giving voice to pain, longing, and joy in a way that made people feel seen and understood.
SPEAKING VOICE Judy Garland’s speaking voice was noted for its earnest, wide-eyed quality—an innocence that conveyed youthfulness and emotional sincerity to audiences. She spoke with a distinctive Midwestern American accent, marked by clear diction and a natural warmth. While her speech carried traces of the "Transatlantic accent" favored by many Golden Age Hollywood stars, hers was subtler and less affected than some of her more polished contemporaries.
In later years, some observers noted that she occasionally slurred her words when speaking, though Garland was quick to point out that her thoughts remained sharp and unclouded. Like her singing, her speaking voice was rich in emotional authenticity. In interviews, she was articulate, reflective, and often disarmingly honest. When telling stories—especially those laced with humor—she became animated, using playful vocal inflections and comic timing that revealed her innate talent for performance in any setting.
SENSE OF HUMOUR Judy Garland was celebrated not only for her voice and dramatic talent but also for her razor-sharp wit and flair for outrageous storytelling. Her humor was often self-deprecating and delightfully irreverent—she had a particular fondness for fart jokes and physical comedy, which could leave her and those around her in fits of laughter.
Garland had a natural gift for timing and mimicry, often doing pitch-perfect impressions of people she knew. She could spin everyday mishaps—like battles with stubborn inanimate objects—into comedy gold. Her stories ranged from the absurd, such as Marlene Dietrich’s alleged album of nothing but applause, to colorful tales from her vaudeville days, featuring larger-than-life characters like “Happy Harry.”
Her humor wasn’t just for show—it often acted as a shield. She used comedy as a way to deflect pain or lighten the weight of more serious topics, masking vulnerability with punchlines. Those close to her admired her comic brilliance, but also recognized when the mask slipped. As Garland herself once put it, there came a time when it was “high time to cut the comedy” and speak her truth.
RELATIONSHIPS Judy Garland had a complex personal life marked by five marriages and numerous relationships.
David Rose Her first husband was composer David Rose whom she married in a spontaneous ceremony in Las Vegas when she was just 19. During this marriage, she was forced to have an abortion when she became pregnant. They divorced in 1944.
Vincente Minnelli Her second husband was director Vincente Minnelli with whom she had her first child, Liza Minnelli. They had a lavish wedding at the Lee Mansion in Beverly Hills, California on June 15, 1945 but divorced in 1951.
Sidney Luft: Her longest marriage was to producer Sidney Luft (1952-1965), lasting 13 years. They tied a knot in a private ceremony in Hollister, California. They had two children: Lorna Luft (born 1952) and Joey Luft (born 1955). It was also arguably her most tumultuous marriage.
Mark Herron Her fourth marriage was to actor and tour promoter Mark Herron. They wed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the early hours of November 14, 1965. It lasted two years.
Mickey Deans: Her final marriage was to musician Mickey Deans in a small ceremony at Chelsea Register Office, London, on March 15, 1969, just three months before her death. At the time of her marriage to Deans, she reportedly said, "Finally, finally, I am loved".
Mickey Deans and Garland at their London wedding in March 1969 by Allan Warren
All of her marriages were reportedly stormy and troubled, often complicated by her substance abuse and mental health issues.
She maintained close friendships with many in Hollywood, including Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra, and had a particularly devoted fan base, especially within the LGBTQ+ community.
MONEY AND FAME Despite her extraordinary fame and success, Judy Garland faced ongoing financial struggles throughout her life. Though she earned $150,000 per film at the height of her MGM career and was making $1,000 a week by the time she turned 20, much of her income was controlled or mismanaged by others. She began at MGM on just $100 a week, and as her star rose, so did the financial pressures. Managers and agents reportedly embezzled large sums from her, with Garland later saying she had been “robbed blind.”
Her wealth was further eroded by a series of costly divorces, mounting medical bills, and chronic mismanagement of her finances. Despite being one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world, Garland was frequently in debt and forced to work relentlessly to support herself and her children. In her final years, during her 1968–1969 concert run in London, she was in a state of financial distress—relying on advances, loans, and last-minute performances just to make ends meet.
Her increasingly fragile health and reputation for being unreliable made it harder to find steady work, compounding her financial instability. For Garland, the glamour of stardom was often overshadowed by the harsh reality of having to perform simply to survive.
FOOD AND DRINK Judy Garland’s relationship with food was shaped by a lifetime of studio interference and body image pressures. From a young age, MGM subjected her to harsh, restrictive diets in an effort to control her appearance. By the time she was 18, her daily intake was reduced to little more than chicken soup, black coffee, and a staggering 80 cigarettes, along with prescription appetite suppressants. Studio executives were known to physically take food away from her if they thought she was eating too much.
Constantly hungry, Garland often fantasized about indulgent treats—especially chocolate sundaes topped with pecans and whipped cream. One of her favorite meals, however, was a wholesome vegetable salad first prepared by her mother. The dish included lettuce hearts, cubed celery, watercress, grated carrots, sliced tomatoes, seeded and quartered olives, chopped endive, and cooked green peas, all tossed by hand in a tangy French-style dressing of olive oil, vinegar, salt, paprika, minced garlic, and a touch of sugar—Garland insisted on mixing it herself, preferring hands to wooden utensils.
As she grew older, her eating habits became increasingly erratic. Periods of binge eating often followed intense dieting, contributing to a cycle of physical and emotional turmoil. Her third husband, Sid Luft, noted her love for hearty comfort food, particularly dishes like spaghetti. The constant battle with weight—fueled by diet pills and unrealistic expectations—played a significant role in her struggles with substance abuse. Combined with heavy alcohol use in later years, these habits took a serious toll on her health and ultimately contributed to her untimely death. (2)
MOVIE CAREER Judy Garland’s movie career is one of those great Hollywood tales that reads like a cross between a fairy tale and a cautionary pamphlet. Over the course of more than 30 feature films, she went from precocious vaudeville kid to one of the most luminous musical stars the world has ever seen—all while navigating studios, stage mothers, starvation diets, and a professional schedule that would make even caffeine tremble.
Garland signed with MGM at the age of 13, a decision that, like most things in her life, would prove both fortuitous and quietly harrowing. Her screen debut came with Pigskin Parade (1936), a football comedy of such fluffy inconsequence that no one expected it to produce a voice like hers—a voice that could knock your socks off and iron them flat at the same time.
Then came The Wizard of Oz (1939), and everything changed. At just 16, Garland was plopped into gingham, paired with a lion, a tin man, and a scarecrow, and instructed to sing a ballad about somewhere over the rainbow. It turned out to be one of cinema’s most iconic moments. The rainbow never stood a chance.
Garland in a publicity photo for The Wizard of Oz (1939)
What followed was a decade of nonstop musical cheer—at least on the screen. Off-screen, MGM kept her on a diet that made a celery stick look indulgent and fed her a steady cocktail of amphetamines and anxiety. Yet somehow, Garland glowed. She starred in a flurry of classic MGM musicals, including:
Babes in Arms (1939)
Strike Up the Band (1940)
Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
For Me and My Gal (1942)—Gene Kelly’s screen debut, lucky man
Girl Crazy (1943)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)—where she sang “The Trolley Song” and made public transportation sound like a romantic adventure
The Harvey Girls (1946)
Easter Parade (1948)—with Fred Astaire, because who else?
Summer Stock (1950)—Gene Kelly again, and a stage number with a battered tuxedo and a pile of newspapers that should be studied in film schools and possibly worshipped.
Garland wasn’t just all show tunes and smiles. She proved herself in straight roles too, notably in The Clock (1945), where she didn’t sing a note and still held the screen with heart-thumping presence.
After leaving MGM in 1950—under a haze of exhaustion, pill dependency, and a general desire to stay alive—Garland staged one of the great comebacks in A Star Is Born (1954). Her role as Esther Blodgett (aka Vicki Lester) was so heartbreakingly good it earned her an Academy Award nomination. She didn’t win, of course, but neither did justice that year.
Her later film appearances were fewer but still potent. She nabbed another Oscar nomination for Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), voiced a cat in Gay Purr-ee (1962), and gave her final on-screen performance in I Could Go on Singing (1963), a film that now feels both prophetic and impossibly poignant.
Along the way, Garland worked with a murderers’ row of Hollywood legends—Mickey Rooney, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, James Mason—most of whom were a few inches taller and many pounds heavier, but none of whom outshone her.
She received two Oscar nominations (and deserved a dozen), and was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award in 1939 for being the only teenager who could hold up an entire film studio while wearing pigtails.
Garland’s filmography remains a masterclass in show business magic—equal parts brilliance and burnout. She made musicals matter, turned heartbreak into art, and left behind a legacy so big it still echoes down Hollywood Boulevard. That she did all this while barely clearing five feet tall makes it even more remarkable.
If there’s a yellow brick road in cinema history, Judy Garland paved it—with glitter, guts, and a heartbreakingly beautiful voice.
SINGING CAREER Judy Garland's singing career spanned nearly five decades and included vaudeville, movies, radio, concert halls, and television—sometimes all at once—and somehow managed to produce not just memorable performances but whole chapters in the history of 20th-century popular music. If there was a way to sing to an audience, Garland found it—and did it better than anyone else.
Garland got her start at the tender age of two-and-a-half—an age when most children can’t be trusted to operate a spoon—singing with her sisters as The Gumm Sisters in the family vaudeville act. Even then, people noticed. Her voice had a maturity and emotional weight that defied the fact she still had baby teeth.
By 13, she was signed to MGM, where her extraordinary contralto voice—rich, brassy, and somehow heartbreakingly human—cut through studio gloss like a foghorn in a cathedral.
If you only know Judy Garland from The Wizard of Oz, you’re not alone. That performance of “Over the Rainbow” in 1939 became her calling card and has remained stubbornly lodged in the public consciousness ever since.
But that was just the beginning. Garland went on to star in one golden-age musical after another—Meet Me in St. Louis, Summer Stock, Easter Parade—each bursting with original songs that became standards simply by passing through her vocal cords. “The Trolley Song,” “The Man That Got Away,” “Get Happy”—these weren’t just performances, they were public service announcements from the Department of Emotion.
On record, she was just as commanding. Between 1936 and 1947, she recorded more than 90 tracks for Decca, and from 1955 to 1965, she made a dozen lush, orchestrated albums for Capitol Records, working with the best arrangers in the business—Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins among them. Imagine handing your heartbreak to a full orchestra and somehow making it swing. That was Garland’s gift.
After her break with MGM—largely due to exhaustion and the minor issue of being treated like a performing machine—Garland reinvented herself as a live performer. Her 1951 tour of Britain and Ireland was met with standing ovations and actual weeping, and her comeback at New York’s Palace Theatre was such a triumph that the theatre briefly renamed itself “The House That Judy Built.” She even got a special Tony Award for the trouble.
Then came Carnegie Hall, 1961. If you’ve never heard Judy at Carnegie Hall, do yourself a favor: find it, sit down, and prepare to be emotionally walloped. It’s widely regarded as one of the greatest live albums of all time. It won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, and has never gone out of print. Think about that—never. Not even in the CD clearance bin era.
In 1963, she got her own CBS variety show—The Judy Garland Show—which was critically adored and nominated for four Emmys before being unceremoniously canceled after one season. This is widely considered one of the dumbest decisions in television history, second only to giving Chevy Chase a talk show.
What made Garland’s voice so unforgettable wasn’t just the power—though it could rattle windows—or the technical polish, which was extraordinary. It was the way she sang like she’d lived the lyrics. Every note felt personal, every phrase had a little story tucked inside. She didn’t sing at you, she sang to you—and somehow, for you.
She could deliver torch songs with aching vulnerability, belt out showstoppers with floor-shaking intensity, and phrase a line so naturally it felt like she was making it up on the spot. Even her breathing was expressive. You got the sense that when Judy Garland sang, nothing else in the universe dared to make a sound.
Garland kept singing through the 1960s, even as her health declined and personal struggles piled up like unpaid hotel bills. There were television specials, more concerts, a few brilliant moments, and many heartbreaking ones. But the voice—weathered though it was—never stopped reaching people.
Frank Sinatra, a man not known for understatements, once said, “She will have a mystic survival. She was the greatest. The rest of us will be forgotten, but never Judy.”
He was right. Judy Garland didn’t just sing songs—she made them into landmarks. She gave her voice to the lonely, the hopeful, the dreamers, and the down-and-out. And somehow, in doing that, she made all of us feel just a little more human.
MUSIC AND ARTS Judy Garland possessed a strong contralto voice celebrated for its emotional depth and versatility. Her singing style was described as brassy, powerful, effortless and resonant, with the ability to "aim straight at our central nervous systems". She was known for her extraordinary ability to convey emotion through song, making each song uniquely hers without taking anything away from the original.
Garland won two Grammy Awards for her 1961 album Judy at Carnegie Hall - for Album of the Year and Best Solo Vocal Performance. Six of her recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
She was a triple threat (singer, dancer, actress) who excelled in all areas, leaving behind a legacy of timeless performances that continue to influence artists today.
LITERATURE Judy Garland was an avid reader despite her interrupted formal education and enjoyed writing stories herself.
As a student of great poets, she was especially drawn to Shelley, Keats, and Browning. Garland wrote and published her own poetry, creating a book titled Thoughts and Poems around 1939-1940. This collection contained eight poems with themes of loss, love, and questioning reality, and showed a classical influence, possibly from Homer's works. Her poems were described as "raw yet whimsical".
Throughout Garland's career, she made recordings in preparation for a memoir, but the project never materialized. She had planned to title her memoirs Ho-Hum.
NATURE Her Bel Air home featured lush lawns, extensive gardens, and an orchard. The Hollywood Hills property included bamboo, banana-leaf trees, and tropical plants. Her later Malibu home was beachfront property where she lived with her family.
PETS Judy Garland developed a close relationship with Terry, the Cairn Terrier who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz. Terry was seriously injured during filming when one of the Winkie guards accidentally stepped on her paw, and the dog spent two weeks recuperating at Judy Garland's residence. During this time, Garland developed such a close attachment to Terry that she offered to buy the dog from her trainer Carl Spitz, but he refused to sell.
Terry as Toto, with Judy Garland
HOBBIES AND SPORTS Her schedule left little time for hobbies, but she loved music, movies, and spending time with her children. She wasn’t known for participating in sports.
PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Judy Garland was baptized and raised an Episcopalian, thanks in part to her godfather, a man so devoted (and wealthy) that he reportedly funded the establishment of an Episcopal church in Grand Rapids simply because there wasn’t one. That’s the kind of godparenting that sets the bar unreasonably high.
But Garland’s relationship with religion was complicated and not easily defined. When asked in a 1967 interview whether she was religious, she gave a classic Judy response: “I’m not a fanatically religious... do you mean, do I believe in God? Of course I believe in God.” It was the kind of answer that politely tiptoed around the question and hoped the interviewer would move on.
She never seemed entirely comfortable talking about religion in public, and there’s reason to think her personal experiences made the subject a bit thorny. Her father’s homosexuality, which caused scandal and forced the family to relocate more than once, may have strained her trust in religious institutions. Her maternal grandfather, a self-proclaimed agnostic who apparently had no qualms about declaring it loudly, likely added to her tendency toward a more questioning, less dogmatic faith.
Garland didn’t marry exclusively within her faith—two of her five husbands were Jewish—and she didn’t appear particularly bothered by that. Her outlook seemed less about rituals and more about behavior. “The real expression of your religious beliefs,” she once said, “is shown in the daily pattern of your life, in what you do.” In other words, be kind, be honest, do your best.
So while she clearly believed in God, she also maintained a distance from organized religion. (3)
POLITICS A lifelong Democrat with a strong sense of social justice, Garland was relatively active in liberal political circles and had a particular soft spot for underdogs, misfits, and anyone being unfairly picked on—which, all things considered, may have been a reflection of her own life story.
She was a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, which in those days was essentially a club for people who liked Franklin Roosevelt, unions, and singing patriotic medleys with conviction. She put her money where her ideals were too, contributing to campaigns for FDR, Henry Wallace, Adlai Stevenson, John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy—all the heavy hitters of mid-century Democratic politics. If there was a cocktail fundraiser involving cigarettes, canapés, and civil liberties, Judy was probably there.
In 1947, at the height of postwar paranoia, Garland took a public stand against the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which was busily attempting to root out communists in the film industry, one melodramatic subpoena at a time. On a national radio broadcast, she took the committee to task for its witch-hunt mentality, saying firmly: “We’re show business, yes—but we’re also American citizens… it’s something else again to say we’re not good Americans. We resent that.” Which was, in context, about as close as Hollywood got to a mic drop.
She also supported the Hollywood Ten (a group of screenwriters and directors blacklisted for refusing to cooperate with HUAC) and lent her voice to civil rights causes during the 1960s. Her politics would be considered solidly liberal even by modern standards—though it’s worth noting that some of her views, particularly around gender roles and dependency, might spark lively debates among present-day feminists.
Garland was also strikingly comfortable in LGBTQ+ spaces long before that was fashionable—or even safe. She frequented gay bars, had many gay friends, and appeared unbothered by what anyone thought about it.
Her activism wasn’t the performative kind. It wasn’t about grand speeches or waving banners from balconies. It was consistent with the rest of her character—intensely emotional, instinctively empathetic, and drawn to the voices most likely to be drowned out. (3)
SCANDAL Judy Garland's life was marked by numerous scandals and controversies. The trouble started early. By the time she was a teenager, Judy had been fed a cocktail of amphetamines to wake her up, barbiturates to put her to sleep, and cigarettes to keep her waistline camera-ready. These were not prescriptions. They were studio policy. The net result was a lifelong dependence on substances that would eventually erode her health, reputation, and, occasionally, her memory of song lyrics mid-performance.
Her personal life—five marriages, five divorces—played out like a soap opera with musical numbers. Her first husband, David Rose, reportedly pressured her into an abortion, setting the tone for relationships that were often as emotionally turbulent as her onstage performances. Sid Luft, husband number three and sometimes manager, later claimed she attempted suicide at least 20 times—though in fairness, Luft was never known for understatement.
She could be, and often was, unreliable. Missed shows, late arrivals, and sudden cancellations were so common they practically became part of the ticket price. Audiences in London in 1969, fed up with delays and erratic performances, reportedly hurled bread rolls and cocktail glasses at the stage—surely not what MGM had in mind when it dreamed of global stardom for Dorothy Gale.
Then there were the lawsuits—so many lawsuits. Promoters sued her for walking out on contracts; venues fired her for failing to show up; and gossip columnists had an absolute field day chronicling every stumble. One particularly disturbing allegation came years after The Wizard of Oz wrapped, when Garland claimed she’d been groped by some of the actors playing munchkins. Whether or not those stories were exaggerated, they reflect the broader truth: Garland often lacked the basic protections that modern performers now expect—and deserve.
Her finances, too, were a slow-motion train wreck. Despite earning astronomical sums, she was frequently broke, her money siphoned away by mismanagement, manipulation, and a constant need to finance the lifestyle others expected of her. At various points, she owed more than she earned, and by the end of her life, even her grocery bills required loans.
Worst of all, perhaps, was the way the press turned her into a living tragedy. Every stumble became a headline; every moment of instability became a narrative about “poor Judy.” She hated this depiction, once lamenting, “I’m always being painted a more tragic figure than I am.” She wasn’t wrong. Garland could be funny, feisty, and wickedly sharp when she wasn’t being flattened into a cautionary tale.
MILITARY RECORD Garland's work at MGM during the 1940s included films that supported the war effort and boosted morale on the home front. She also performed at various USO-type events and military hospitals.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Judy Garland's health was severely compromised throughout most of her life due to drug abuse, eating disorders, and the pressures of stardom. Her health was a long, painful saga of pills, pressure, and punishing expectations.
The trouble started absurdly early. By the age of 8 or 9, she was already being handed amphetamines to pep her up for performances, then barbiturates to bring her back down again so she could sleep—usually in a studio dressing room, in a corset, under a pile of stress. By 17, she was thoroughly dependent on both.
The list of ailments that followed reads less like a health chart and more like the inventory of a small hospital. The Los Angeles Times obituary noted she suffered from hepatitis, exhaustion, kidney troubles, nervous breakdowns, injuries from falls, near-fatal drug reactions, and the unending whiplash of yo-yo dieting. She was at various times declared overweight, underweight, or simply “inappropriate-looking” by people who apparently hadn’t looked in a mirror themselves in decades.
She made her first suicide attempt at age 28 and would try again more than once. Through it all, Garland kept performing—on stage, on film, on television—sometimes while so physically weakened she could barely stand. One colleague remarked that she seemed to function purely on willpower and adrenaline, like a jet engine fueled by applause.
The drinking didn’t help. Nor did the chain-smoking. By the time she was in her 40s, her liver was shot, her body was exhausted, and her face—once round and radiant—showed the kind of wear usually reserved for people twice her age. Her final years were spent in a cycle of hospitalizations, cancelled performances, and desperate attempts to stay afloat. (4)
HOMES Judy Garland lived in numerous residences throughout her life. Her first home was in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where she was born. This childhood home is now a museum and can be visited. When she was four, the family moved to Lancaster, California.
After signing with MGM at 13, she lived in various Los Angeles area homes. In 1938, at age 16, she and her mother commissioned architect Wallace Neff to build a custom Bel Air home. This East Coast traditional-style home spans 5,500 square feet with five bedrooms and seven bathrooms on 2.66 acres.
From 1944-1948, she lived in a Hollywood Hills mansion designed by architect John Woolf. This Art Deco-style home later belonged to Sammy Davis Jr. and features five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a pool house, and extensive gardens.
She also owned a Malibu beachfront property on Las Tunas Beach built in 1947, where she lived with Vincente Minnelli and daughter Liza in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
In her final years, she lived in London in a rented mews house in the Belgravia area.
Her various homes reflected both her success and financial instability, as she often had to sell properties due to money troubles. Many of her former homes have been sold for millions of dollars and remain sought-after properties.
TRAVEL As a child, she toured across America with her sisters as The Gumm Sisters, performing in vaudeville theaters around the country. Her early travels included a working/vacation trip to California in 1926 when the family moved west.
She made a promotional tour for Everybody Sing in 1938, visiting cities including Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, and her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
Her concert career involved extensive travel, including a critically acclaimed 1951 engagement at the London Palladium.
In 1964, Garland made a dramatic trip to Hong Kong while fleeing hostile press coverage from an Australian tour. During this Hong Kong visit, she was rushed to Canossa Hospital where she spent 15 hours in a coma after an overdose, and was briefly reported dead. It was during this trip that she met Peter Allen, who later married her daughter Liza Minnelli.
She made her final concert appearance in Copenhagen, Denmark on March 25, 1969.
DEATH Judy Garland died on June 22, 1969, at age 47 in London, England. She was found dead in the bathroom of her rented mews house in the Belgravia district by her fifth husband, Mickey Deans. The cause of death was ruled as "Barbiturate poisoning (quinabarbitone) incautious self-overdosage. Accidental" by London coroner Dr. Gavin Thurston. There was also evidence of cirrhosis of the liver from her alcohol abuse. The coroner stated: "This is quite clearly an accidental circumstance to a person who was accustomed to taking barbiturates over a very long time. She took more barbiturates than she could tolerate". She had been performing at London's Talk of the Town cabaret club in early 1969. Her death occurred just 12 days after her 47th birthday and three months after marrying Mickey Deans.
There was no evidence she had committed suicide. She had attempted suicide multiple times throughout her life, but this final overdose was ruled accidental. Her daughter Liza Minnelli said of her mother's death: "When she died, I almost knew why... She let her guard down. She didn't die from an overdose. I think she just got tired". (5)
Judy Garland’s funeral was held on June 27, 1969, five days after her death. The service took place at Campbell Funeral Chapel in New York City and was attended by around 1,500 mourners, with thousands more lining the streets outside. James Mason, her A Star Is Born co-star, gave the eulogy.
Initially, she was interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. However, in 2017, her remains were moved by her family to Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California, where she now rests in a pink-marble mausoleum specially designed by her children. Her new resting place is fittingly close to the heart of the industry that both made and unmade her.
APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Judy Garland's life and legacy have been extensively documented in various media:
1. Biographies: Numerous books, including Judy by David Shipman, Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland by Gerald Clarke, and Judy Garland: The Secret Life of an American Legend by Sheridan Morley and Ruth Leon.
2. Biopics: Judy (2019), starring Renée Zellweger, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal.
Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), a TV miniseries starring Judy Davis.
3. Documentaries: Many documentaries have explored her life, career, and struggles.
4. Stage Shows: Her life has inspired several stage productions, including End of the Rainbow.
ACHIEVEMENTS Academy Juvenile Award (1940): For her outstanding performance as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (1955): For A Star Is Born.
Grammy Awards: Album of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance (1962): For Judy at Carnegie Hall. and Lifetime Achievement Award (1997): Posthumously.
Tony Award (Special Award, 1952): For her contribution to the revival of vaudeville at the Palace Theatre.
Cultural Icon: Her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" became an anthem of hope and resilience, and she remains a beloved figure, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community.
Legendary Performer: Recognized as one of the greatest entertainers of all time, known for her unparalleled vocal talent and emotional depth.
Posthumous Honors: Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame multiple times, and her recordings are preserved in the National Recording Registry.
WHAT FAMOUS FOR Giuseppe Garibaldi is famous as one of the most significant figures in Italian unification, known as the "Hero of the Two Worlds" (Eroe dei Due Mondi) for his military campaigns in both South America and Europe. He led the "Redshirts" (Camicie Rosse) and was instrumental in the conquest of Southern Italy, ultimately uniting it with the Kingdom of Sardinia to form the Kingdom of Italy.
BIRTH Giuseppe Garibaldi was born on July 4, 1807 in Nice, which had been conquered by the French Republic in 1792. In 1814, the Congress of Vienna returned Nice to Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia. His birth coincided with the same date as American Independence Day, which would later prove symbolically appropriate for a man dedicated to liberation movements.
The house in which Garibaldi was born
FAMILY BACKGROUND Garibaldi's parents were Giovanni Domenico Garibaldi from Chiavari and Maria Rosa Nicoletta Raimondi from Loano. They belonged to a Ligurian family involved in coastal trade and fishing. His father, Domenico Garibaldi, was a sailor from Genoa and captain of a Mediterranean fishing boat called "Santa Raparata," involved in both fish trade and water transport of goods between Italian ports. His mother, Donna Rosa Raimondi Garibaldi, was an educated person who initially wanted her son to become a priest.
CHILDHOOD Garibaldi's early childhood was spent in the maritime environment of Nice. His family's involvement in coastal trade drew him naturally to a life at sea. The boy showed early signs of restlessness and adventure, with one legendary story describing an escape from school at age fourteen with friends, seizing a sailboat to embark for Constantinople.
EDUCATION His mother hired Abbot Giovanni Giacone and retired officer Arena to teach him, with Arena teaching Italian, mathematics and writing - subjects that young "Peppino" (Giuseppe's affectionate nickname) enjoyed most.
Speaking Italian and French since childhood, he also learned Spanish, Greek, Latin and English, and tried to compose poetry. Garibaldi was a good mathematician and later became fluent in German, Spanish, French, and English, while being familiar with Roman history and modern European history.
CAREER RECORD Garibaldi's career began as a merchant seaman for more than 10 years
1828 to 1832 He lived in the Pera district of Istanbul, working as an instructor teaching Italian, French, and mathematics.
1832 He acquired a master's certificate as a merchant captain. By 1833-34, he served in the navy of Piedmont-Sardinia.
1834 Garibaldi participated in a failed Mazzinian insurrection in Piedmont and was condemned to death in absentia.
1836-1848 Garibaldi lived in exile in South America, where he learned guerrilla warfare tactics. He joined the Ragamuffin rebels in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul, fighting for the Riograndense Republic. In 1842, he moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he formed an Italian Legion known for their red shirts.
1848 Returning to Italy, he participated in the First Italian War of Independence and defended the Roman Republic in 1849.
1860 His most famous military achievement was the Expedition of the Thousand in 1860, conquering Sicily and Naples for the Kingdom of Sardinia.
He also served as a general in the Piedmontese army and fought in the Franco-Prussian War commanding the Army of the Vosges.
APPEARANCE Garibaldi was noted for his charismatic presence and distinctive appearance. His flair for the theatrical made him stand out in every village and town he visited. Contemporary accounts describe him as having extraordinary personal magnetism that made "women of all classes love him, and men of all classes follow him in circumstances of acute danger".
Garibaldi's face was often framed by a full beard and flowing hair, which turned white in later years. His eyes were described as piercing and intense. He was of medium height but possessed an athletic physique, indicative of his active life.
Garibaldi in 1861
FASHION Garibaldi became famous for the red shirt that would define both his image and his movement. The now-iconic garment had practical origins—unable to afford proper uniforms, Garibaldi sourced cheap red shirts originally intended for slaughterhouse workers. While fighting in South America, he embraced the dress of the gauchos, adopting their red shirts, ponchos, and broad-brimmed hats.
The red shirt became so symbolic that it inspired the Garibaldi shirt fashion for women in the 1860s, first popularized by Empress Eugénie of France. During a visit to London in 1864, Garibaldi insisted on wearing his red shirt, which became so popular that wealthy Victorian women ordered custom red shirts from weavers. (1)
CHARACTER Garibaldi’s power over people came not just from his battlefield heroics, but from his extraordinary character. He possessed a disarming sincerity, unshakable honesty, and a physical courage that inspired loyalty. Those who knew him spoke of his gentle nature, his trust in others' goodness, and his deep compassion for the weak and suffering. He was more loved than admired—revered as much for his humility as his bravery.
Eccentric yet unpretentious, he traveled light, often with just a spare red shirt under his saddle. He ate simply and lived like his men. To them, he wasn’t just a leader, but a father.
SPEAKING VOICE Garibaldi was known for his soft, seductive voice when addressing his followers. He possessed remarkable oratory skills, with his voice described as capable of inspiring men with simple encouragements such as "Coraggio! Coraggio!" (Courage! Courage!) during battle. (1)
SENSE OF HUMOUR Garibaldi maintained a generally easygoing, laid-back personality when not on duty. His character was noted for its warmth and humanity, and he showed a playful side in how he named his donkeys after his enemies - the most recalcitrant of which was named after Pope Pius IX.
RELATIONSHIPS Garibaldi's most significant relationship was with Ana Maria de Jesus Ribeiro da Silva (known as Anita), whom he met in 1839 in Brazil. When he first saw her, he reportedly whispered, "You must be mine". Anita and Giuseppe were married on March 26, 1842, in Montevideo. She was a skilled horsewoman who taught Giuseppe about gaucho culture and fought alongside him in battle. They had four children: Domenico Menotti (1840-1903), Rosa (1843-1845), Teresa Teresita (1845-1903), and Ricciotti (1847-1924).
Anita died on August 4, 1849, during their retreat from Rome, pregnant with their fifth child and suffering from malaria. Her death profoundly affected Garibaldi.
Contemporary portrait of Anita by Gaetano Gallino in 1845
He had several other relationships throughout his life, including two later marriages that were less stable: in 1860 to Giuseppina Raimondi (which was annulled almost immediately) and in 1880 to his longtime companion Francesca Armosino, legitimizing their three children.
MONEY AND FAME Despite his international fame and achievements, Garibaldi wanted nothing for his massive accomplishments - he refused all honours and financial awards. He lived frugally throughout his life, embodying extreme frugality even during his celebrity years. On one family photo, he is listed simply as "G. Garibaldi, agricoltore (farmer)". His lifestyle was marked by simplicity and contentment with basic necessities, preferring to focus on his cause rather than personal enrichment. This modest approach to wealth and fame endeared him to working-class supporters who saw him as a kindred spirit.
FOOD AND DRINK Garibaldi maintained a notably spartan diet throughout his life. He rarely ate meat on campaign, preferring a combination of soup, beans and vegetables, or fish. This simple approach to food reflected his overall philosophy of modest living. He was content with this basic diet to his dying breath, even when tending to his farm on Caprera.
MUSIC AND ARTS Garibaldi had some interest in poetry, attempting to compose verses in his youth. He was familiar with the cultural movements of his time, though he was more focused on military and political action than artistic pursuits. Garibaldi became a muse for artists and composers celebrating Italian nationalism and many popular songs and anthems were written in his honor.
LITERATURE Garibaldi was literate and well-read, familiar with the history of Rome and modern European affairs. He wrote his own memoirs and authored a novel called Cantoni the Volunteer after the death of Achille Cantoni, who had saved his life during fighting near Velletri. His writings provide important firsthand accounts of the Risorgimento period.
NATURE Garibaldi had a profound connection to the natural world, which was evident in his choice to retire to the Sardinian island of Caprera where he established a flourishing farm. He wrote: "On your granite peaks, I feel the aura of liberty, oh my wild and solitary Caprera. Your shrubs are my park, and you, awesome stone, offer me a safe and austere abode. Here I contemplate the infinite". (2)
When he felt the end was coming, he asked to be moved to the room where he could see from a window the sea, Corsica and, out there, he could imagine "his" Nice.
Garibaldi at Caprera by Vincenzo Cabianca
PETS Garibaldi was an animal lover. He kept various animals on his farm in Caprera, including chickens, sheep, horses, and many donkeys.
His most famous animal companion was his white mare named Marsala, who accompanied him in his military campaigns. The horse died at age 30 and was buried not far from his house on Caprera, where a burial stele can still be seen.
HOBBIES AND SPORTS Garibaldi's primary recreational activities centered around farming and agricultural pursuits during his retirement on Caprera. He personally worked the land and looked after the orchard and garden. He planted many trees on the island and cultivated fields. In 1867, he planted a magnificent pine tree in the center of his garden to commemorate the birth of his daughter Clelia.
He was also skilled in practical crafts, being a skilled joiner and blacksmith, with his tools displayed in what is now the museum. His lifelong connection to the sea through sailing could also be considered a recreational pursuit.
SCIENCE AND MATHS Garibaldi showed interest in new scientific ideas. He was fascinated by new ideas and innovations - his kitchen had the first running water in an Italian house.
His practical engineering abilities were evident in his farming innovations on Caprera and his military engineering during campaigns.
During his time as a merchant captain, he would have needed mathematical skills for navigation.
PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Garibaldi's philosophical outlook was shaped by liberal republicanism and nationalism. Initially a follower of Giuseppe Mazzini's republican nationalism in the Young Italy movement, he embraced democratic republican government. However, he pragmatically allied himself with the monarchist Cavour when it served Italian unification, subordinating his republican ideals to his nationalist ones.
He became an active Freemason during his exile, joining the Asilo de la Virtud Lodge of Montevideo in 1844. While Garibaldi had little use for Masonic rituals, he regarded Freemasonry as a network that united progressive men as brothers. He eventually became Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Italy.
Garibaldi was a secularist and often critical of the temporal power of the Papacy, seeing it as an obstacle to Italian unity. While he held personal moral convictions, he was not outwardly religious in a traditional sense and championed the separation of church and state.
POLITICS Garibaldi was a dedicated republican for much of his life. He initially supported a unified Italy as a republic, following Mazzini's ideals. However, he famously put the cause of national unity above his republican convictions, ultimately throwing his support behind Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia to achieve a unified monarchy.
Meeting between Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel II on the bridge of Teano on October 26, 1860
Garibaldi served as a member of the Italian Parliament, though he often found himself at odds with the conservative establishment. He remained a strong advocate for democratic rights and social justice.
SCANDAL One of the major controversies in Garibaldi's life involved his brief marriage to Giuseppina Raimondi in 1860, which was annulled almost immediately. The circumstances surrounding this marriage and its rapid dissolution created significant personal and public scandal.
Garibaldi's anticlericalism and attacks on the Catholic Church also generated controversy throughout his career. He publicly opposed papal temporal power and made statements that offended religious conservatives. His Masonic affiliations were also controversial in Catholic Italy.
Later in life, he became harsh, suspicious, and misanthropic, publicly praising the "crazy regicide Passanante as a hero" when the man attempted to assassinate King Humbert. (3)
MILITARY RECORD In 1834, after bungling his way through a botched uprising in Piedmont—where revolutionary plots were as plentiful as moustaches—Giuseppe Garibaldi found himself sentenced to death. Ever resourceful, he did the sensible thing and fled to South America, where political chaos and steamy jungles awaited. There, instead of retiring quietly or taking up macramé, Garibaldi took to guerrilla warfare like a duck to gunpowder. He captained the Uruguayan navy (somehow) and formed the Italian Legion, a ragtag band of idealists who wore red shirts meant for slaughterhouse workers and promptly became icons.
Garibaldi, it turns out, had a real flair for war—not the tidy kind with battle maps and bugles, but the scrappy, sweaty sort involving amphibious raids, machete ambushes, and daring dashes across rivers. He earned a reputation for leading from the front and looking rather magnificent while doing so, usually with one spare shirt and a sack of beans to his name.
By 1848, revolutionary fever gripped Europe like a bad head cold, and Garibaldi couldn’t resist. Back in Italy, he offered his sword to Charles Albert of Sardinia, who declined with the royal equivalent of “thanks, but no thanks.” Undeterred, Garibaldi led minor campaigns at Luino and Morazzone, then defended the fleeting Roman Republic against the French with a mix of bravery, chaos, and sheer stubbornness—retreating only after a siege that would’ve broken lesser men.
Popular print showing Garibaldi wearing uniforms of 1848, 1860 and 1859 wars
Over the next decades, Garibaldi’s legend snowballed. He founded the "Hunters of the Alps" in 1859, a mountain-hopping volunteer army that seemed to win battles mostly through determination and altitude. But his greatest escapade came in 1860: the Expedition of the Thousand. With barely 1,000 volunteers, he set off from Genoa in borrowed boats, landed in Sicily, and—against all military logic—won. Victories at Calatafimi, Palermo, and Milazzo led to the collapse of Bourbon resistance. By September, he marched triumphantly into Naples and declared himself “Dictator of the Two Sicilies,” which sounds slightly villainous but was wildly popular at the time.
Even in his later years, Garibaldi couldn’t resist a good scrap. He fought in the Trentino during the Third Italian War of Independence and—remarkably—in France during the Franco-Prussian War, where he led a volunteer force and won the only French victory at Dijon, presumably while still wearing his signature red shirt.
A military leader of the most unconventional variety, Garibaldi was beloved for his courage, eccentricity, and utter lack of pretension. He marched light, ate like a monk, and inspired revolutions with nothing but personal charm and a knack for bold gestures. No medals. No pomp. Just a man in a red shirt, changing the course of history.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Garibaldi suffered from recurrent and persistent rheumatic pain starting in his early 40s, with symptoms continuing until his death at 74. His diagnosis is uncertain, but rheumatoid arthritis is most likely. Despite this condition, he successfully coped with his rheumatic illness during most of his military and political career, though he eventually became bedridden and dependent.
In 1862, he was severely wounded in the foot at Aspromonte. His performances on the frontline gave rise to rumors of invincibility, with popular anecdotes claiming he would simply shake bullets out of his shirt after battles.
HOMES Garibaldi's most famous residence was his "Casa Bianca" (White House) on the island of Caprera, which he began building in 1856. With the legacy left by his brother Felice, he bought half of the island in 1855. Ten years later, English friends gave him the other half.
The house featured simple architecture reminiscent of South American fazendas, with white masonry construction and a terraced roof. The complex included the main house, stables, an iron house gifted by a friend, and various farm buildings. He lived on Caprera for about 26 years, creating a self-sustaining farm. The property included a large courtyard with a magnificent pine tree planted in 1867 for his daughter Clelia's birth.
TRAVEL Garibaldi's life was marked by extensive travel across continents. He spent over 10 years as a merchant seaman before his political awakening.
His South American exile (1836-1848) took him across Brazil and Uruguay, where he learned the guerrilla warfare that would serve him in Italy. He traveled to Russia aboard the schooner Clorinda with a shipment of oranges and met key political figures there. In 1860s, he made a celebrated visit to London that drew massive crowds. He was even offered command of Confederate troops during the American Civil War by President Lincoln's representatives who visited him on Caprera.
DEATH Giuseppe Garibaldi died on June 2, 1882, at 6:21 PM on his beloved island of Caprera. He was 74 years old. In his final days, he was bedridden due to progressive disability from his rheumatic condition. He asked to be moved to the room where he could see the sea, Corsica, and imagine his birthplace Nice.
The clock in his bedroom was stopped at the exact time of his death, and the original calendar still marks the day he died. Disobeying his desire to be cremated, his body was embalmed and buried in a grave of rough granite behind his house. His burial site became a national monument.
Funeral of Garibaldi at Caprera,
APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Garibaldi has been the subject of numerous books, films, and artistic works. Alexandre Dumas père wrote a biography that added adventures to his already adventuresome life, demonstrating how his story captured the artistic imagination of his era.. Modern works include The Woman in Red by Diana Giovinazzo and various historical studies.
The 1963 film The Leopard by Luchino Visconti depicted the period of Garibaldi's unification campaigns. A 2025 Netflix series The Leopard also portrays the era of Garibaldi's invasion of Sicily.
Streets, piazzas, and buildings throughout Italy bear his name, and his legacy appears in everything from fish species named after him to fashion inspired by his red shirts.
ACHIEVEMENTS Crucial Role in Italian Unification: His military leadership, especially the Expedition of the Thousand, directly led to the annexation of Southern Italy and the formation of the Kingdom of Italy.
"Hero of the Two Worlds": Earned international renown for his military exploits and commitment to liberty in both South America and Europe.
Master of Guerrilla Warfare: Developed and successfully employed effective guerrilla tactics against larger, more conventional armies.
Inspirational Leader: Possessed immense charisma and the ability to inspire ordinary people to fight for a cause.
Symbol of Nationalism and Republicanism: Became an enduring symbol of national liberation, freedom, and democratic ideals worldwide.
Establishment of the Redshirts: Created an iconic volunteer force whose red shirts became synonymous with patriotism and revolutionary spirit.
