I.

Introduction

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), Italian nationalist revolutionary and leader in the struggle for Italian unification and independence.

Garibaldi was born in Nice, France, and was largely self-educated. He spent his youth as a sailor on Mediterranean merchant ships. In 1833 he joined Young Italy, a movement organized by Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini to free the Italian people from Austrian rule and unify the country as a self-governing republic. In 1834 Garibaldi was ordered to seize a warship, but the plot was discovered by police. Garibaldi was condemned to death, but he escaped to South America, where he lived for 12 years. There he displayed unusual qualities of military leadership while participating in the revolt of the state of Rio Grande do Sul against Brazil, as well as later in a civil war in Uruguay.