Giuseppe Garibaldi

NAME Giuseppe Garibaldi

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.

Sources (1) Linked in (2) Gabbiano Azzurro Hotel website (3) The Atlantic