Who was Giuseppe Mazzini?
Giuseppe Mazzini was born in Genoa in 1805 and qualified in law in 1827. After joining the Carbonari in 1830 he was arrested and chose exile, and in 1831 he founded Young Italy to win a unified republic by revolution. He later founded Young Europe and was sentenced to death in absentia in 1833. In London from 1837, he returned in 1848 and became one of three triumvirs of the Roman Republic in 1849, which fell to a French army. When Italy became a monarchy he refused to take a seat in parliament. He died in Pisa on 10 March 1872.
Political views
- Founded Young Italy in 1831 to pursue a republic, democracy and social justice for a unified Italy, its banner reading Liberty, Equality, Humanity, Unity.Source: encyclopedia.com
- Held that the country is not an aggregation but an association, and that universal franchise, education and labor are the pillars of a nation.Source: history.hanover.edu
- Taught that duties come before rights, and that duty to humanity comes before duty to the nation. Nations are God's design.Source: history.hanover.edu
- Rejected monarchy in any form and refused a parliamentary seat in 1865 rather than swear allegiance to the king.Source: encyclopedia.com
- Rejected socialism and class struggle, urging workers to keep their duties in view and stay loyal to a republican Italy.Source: encyclopedia.com
- Envisioned a brotherhood of nations, starting with a federation of European states, and founded Young Europe to link national movements.Source: ebsco.com
- Held that equality extended to women, and rejected papal authority over the Papal States and over Christendom.Source: ebsco.com
Legacy
Admirers regard Mazzini as the moral prophet of the Risorgimento who gave Italian unity a democratic, republican and European meaning, and Indian and Chinese nationalists later invoked him. Italy honored him with national mourning after his death. Critics say his insurrections in the 1830s and 1850s failed, his idea of the people was an intellectual's romantic notion, and he had few contacts with working-class Italians. His writings were considered vague by some. He lived to see a monarchy, not the republic he wanted, and Austria branded him a terrorist.