An Italian general and politician, Giuseppe Garibaldi was a main character in the Italian Risorgimento. His works and campaigns were generally done on behalf of a larger power and his reputation as a leader, a hero, and then a legend spread throughout Italy and abroad.

Giuseppe Garibaldi has one of the most remarkable stories in terms of leadership and grit. Most notably, he led an army of eight hundred men against a battalion of fifteen thousand and was victorious. If there is one thing that you should learn from the life of Giuseppe Garibaldi, it is his legacy. More specifically, rather than his surroundings changing him, he would change his surroundings. He was a military powerhouse in South America where he was successful, also being an influential hero in Europe. Be a man like Giuseppe Garibaldi with the mind-set that the grass is not always greener on the other side, rather the grass is greenest wherever I am. State that with confidence and do everything in your will to improve the “grass” around you. Pull out weeds where necessary and turn buds into blossoms.

The Italian Youth Becomes a Hero

He was born on July 4, 1807, with the name of Joseph Marie Garibaldi in Nice, France. His parents were Giovanni Domenico Garibaldi and Maria Rosa Nicolette Raimondo. The family business was one of coastal trading, and it was their influence that led Giuseppe Garibaldi to be drawn to life in the open ocean. By 1832 he was a certified marine captain for merchandising.

He made an acquaintance with Giovanni Battista Cuneo in Taganrog, Russia in 1833, who was a member of the secret La Giovine Italia movement. Giuseppe eventually joined the movement, taking an oath to help liberate his country from its Austrian hold. After a meeting with Guiseppe Mezzini later that year, things started to become worrying, and after being given a death sentence by the Genoese court, Giuseppe Garibaldi was forced to flee to Marseille.

He returned to Italy in 1848, after spending some time in South America, where he married Ana Ribeiro da Silva and had four children with her, and was the leader of two victorious battles. His reputation as a legend and leader was already growing at this time. He defeated the French army with his own Republican army on April 1849, until reinforcements arrived and the French fought back. In the end a truce was made in July, and Giuseppe was forced to flee from several foreign armies who were hunting them.

Giuseppe Garibaldi took part in many battles afterwards, including skirmishes in America and the Pacific. He was also appointed as a military general for the Second Italian War of Independence. The defeat of the uprisings in Sicily, however, only cemented his status as the Italian hero. His expert leading of only eight hundred men against fifteen thousand was proof of his prowess as a military leader, afterwards declaring himself the dictator of Sicily.

Fall and Death of Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi died on June 2, 1882. Though he wished for a cremation, he was instead buried in his farmland next to some of his family.

Some of his last acts before his fall into sickness included the foundation of the “League of Democracy” which catered to helping people, both men and women, against suffering and unreasonable laws. He spent most of his last days in Caprera, and two-years before his death, married Francesca Armosino whom he had three children with earlier in his life.

What You May Not Know: Giuseppe Garibaldi

• He has been called the “Hero of Two Worlds”, namely South America and Europe, because of his military work in them.
• The legend of his military exploits has led people to give him the title as one of Italy’s “Founding Fathers”, as it was thanks to his efforts that Italy was able to be united.
• He was an active Freemason.
• It was said that this hero was taught the ways of the gaucho culture of southern Brazil by his own wife Ana, otherwise known as Anita.
• As the legend goes, Giuseppe’s legion first started wearing their trademark red shirts during his time in South America.