Archive

 

Dear Readers,
February, the traditional month of romance, finds me focusing on Garibaldi, the man who helped unify Italy, and his Valentine, Anita.

Anita Riberio was born in 1821, in Laguna, a small town in Southern Brazil. She lived with her widowed mother until she married Manuel Aguiar, a local shoemaker at age fourteen.

The marriage was not a happy one and soon Aguiar left Anita to join the Brazilian army which was at war with rebels in the area. Anita continued to live in Laguna, with her brother, who sympathized with the rebels.

In 1839, as the rebellion continued, the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi came to Brazil to aid the rebel cause. Garibaldi had been forced to flee Italy in 1833 following a failed uprising, against Austrian rule in the northern part of the country. He was a fervent believer in democracy and viewed the Brazilian rebels' struggle as a battle against injustice and tyranny.

In July of 1839, Garibaldi led the naval forces of the rebels as they captured Laguna. In October he was standing on the deck of one of his ships in harbor, looking through his spyglass when he happened to see Anita. He was attracted to her, but she soon disappeared from his view.

Garibaldi searched for Anita in Laguna, until her brother, whom Garibaldi had met previously in town, invited him home for coffee. There Garibaldi was surprised to be introduced to the girl he had been seeking. The two sat together, and Garibaldi later wrote, 'remained enraptured and silent, gazing on each other. At last I greeted her and I said to her: 'You must be mine.''

Anita and Garibaldi fell deeply in love. When Garibaldi set out to raid Brazilian ships further north, Anita decided to leave her old life behind and accompany Garibaldi wherever he went. Anita not only adored Garibaldi but also believed passionately in his cause.

Garibaldi 's expedition to the north was successful, but on the way back to Laguna, he was pursued by Brazilian ships.

During the ensuing battle, several of Garibaldi's crew lost their nerve and went below deck. Anita, who had been taking shelter, joined in the fight, firing a musket at the Brazilian ship. Garibaldi ordered her to go below deck. She replied that she would do so, but only to make sure that the cowards who had fled would return to do their duty. She returned with them and fought on until the Brazilians broke off the battle and Garibaldi was able to return to Laguna.

The Brazilian navy later captured Laguna. Anita escaped with Garibaldi and continued to accompany him on his campaigns. During one battle Anita was captured by Brazilian government forces.

She escaped that night and traveled for four days through thick forest until she rejoined Garibaldi and the rebels.
Although in early stages of pregnancy, she continued to accompany Garibaldi. On September 16, 1840, she gave birth to a son whom they named Menotti, after an executed Italian nationalist.

By 1841 the Brazilian government forces had gained the upper hand in the war. Garibaldi and Anita left the fight to live in Montevideo, Uruguay, where Anita gave birth to their second child, Rosita. In 1842, having received word of the death of her husband, Anita married Garibaldi. The following year, Garibaldi joined the Uruguayan navy in a war against Argentina, but Anita remained behind to look after their children. Rosita died in 1845 but the same year she gave birth to another daughter, Teresita and in 1847 another son, Riciotti.

In 1848 the couple returned with their children to Italy to fight on behalf of the newly declared Republic of Rome, which had taken control of the city of Rome and expelled Pope Pius IX, who strongly opposed the goals of Italian nationalism.
The leaders of the republic faced the antagonism of both the Austrian rulers of northern Italy and French President Louis Napoleon, who was threatening to send an army to Rome to restore the papacy.

Garibaldi, who had been offered military command of the city due to his past experience, left Anita and their children to stay with his mother in Nice, on the French Riviera, and took charge of Rome's defenses on April 27, 1849, three days before a French army began a siege of the city.

The outnumbered republicans fought desperately but on July 2, the leaders of the Republic of Rome surrendered.

To Garibaldi's surprise, Anita joined him in Rome. She was once again pregnant and was determined to be by his side.

Garibaldi decided to escape Rome and wage a guerilla war against Austria. With Anita on horseback at his side, he addressed his army and announced that he intended to continue to fight for Italian independence and unification.
Four thousand and seven hundred men left Rome with him, along with Anita, who cut her hair short and wore men's clothes on the march north.

Garibaldi found that there was little enthusiasm for a rebellion in the countryside. In late July, with his forces reduced to two thousand men, Garibaldi decided that it would be useless to continue to fight. He chose instead to lead his army to safety in Venice, a republican government struggling to survive against Austrian aggression.

When Austrian troops discovered Garibaldi's location, they chased him and his forces for several arduous days. Anita was exhausted, and many of Garibaldi's officers were injured. Garibaldi decided to head for the tiny independent republic of San Marino, built on a series of high peaks that discouraged would-be invaders.

The army began climbing the hill towards San Marino on the night of July 30. By the next morning most of the men had made it across the border. Garibaldi went to the ruling council of San Marino personally to ask for asylum.

In his absence, the Austrians attacked his forces, who were still climbing to safety. Garibaldi's men, who had been without food or shelter for twenty-four hours, broke under fire and many were captured or killed by the Austrians.

The Austrians, meanwhile, surrounded San Marino.
Garibaldi informed his men that he would attempt to slip out of San Marino and try again to reach Venice.

About two hundred men chose to follow him.
Anita insisted on accompanying him, too, despite the advance state of her pregnancy and a fever that she had developed.

Garibaldi was approached by a local peasant who offered him to lead out of San Marino by means of a little known mountain pass that the Austrians had left unguarded.
They had to travel in single file through the narrow, steep pass.

They finally reached the town of san Giovanni, well past the Austrian lines. They turned north and set out for the Adriatic coast, still hoping to reach safety in Venice.

On August 1, Garibaldi reached a fishing village, one hundred miles south of Venice on the Adriatic coast. There was no ship in the harbor large enough to carry all his men, so Garibaldi decided to force the local to take them to Venice in thirteen small fishing boats.

But, as they reached a marshy area of coastline fifty miles south of Venice, an Austrian warship patrolling the area spotted their small fleet.
Garibaldi ordered the boatmen to put ashore so that he and his forces could try to escape overland. The Austrian ship drew closer and fired its cannons at them of the thirteen fishing boats hit ten were eventually seized. The remaining three, carrying Garibaldi, Anita, and thirty of his men, reached the shore in safety, out of sight of the Austrians.

Garibaldi knew that once alerted by the warship, Austrian soldiers in the area would search for them. He ordered his men to scatter and make for Venice in small groups. He remained with Anita and his lieutenant Giovanni Culiolo, known as Leggero. Garibaldi carried Anita into a field nearby, while Leggero went off to scout the area.

Leggero returned with a man named Giacomo who had fought alongside Garibaldi during the siege of Rome in May. He told Garibaldi that they were on an offshore island and led them to a farmhouse where they could rest and take shelter. Anita was too weak to walk, and Garibaldi, with the help of the other men carried her.

Giacomo told Garibaldi that the Austrians were watching the roads into Venice too closely for him to have any chance of reaching the city. He recommended that Garibaldi return south to Ravenna, where there were numerous sympathizers.

Giacomo hired a boatman and Garibaldi, Anita, and Leggero got in the boat and set off for the mainland. Halfway to the mainland, however, the boatmen recognized Garibaldi and fearing that the Austrians would shoot them for aiding Garibaldi’s escape, left their passengers marooned on another small island several miles from shore.

Another boatman, a republican sympathizer came to rescue Garibaldi’s group and took them to an isolated farmhouse that belonged to a republican family, and summoned a doctor.

Anita was barely conscious. The doctor ordered that she be put to bed. When they placed her on the bed they realized she had died. The grieving Garibaldi refused to leave his wife’s body. However, after ensuring that Anita would be given a decent burial, agreed to continue south to Ravenna with Leggero.

They made contact with a network of republican supporters.
Each night a guide led them to another hiding place until they reached a suburb of Ravenna.

Garibaldi decided that it was too dangerous for him to remain in Austrian controlled territory and traveled westward through Tuscany, towards territory controlled by the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Near the town of San Dalmazio, Republicans arranged for a fishing boat to meet them and carry them to the nearby island of Elba, outside of Austrian control. From Elba they sailed north and soon reached the home of relatives in the town of Chiavari. On September 7 a newspaper report announced that Garibaldi had reached safety.

Garibaldi continued to be involved with struggles to institute democracy in Italy. In 1860 he began a series of military campaigns that politically unified most of the Italian peninsula the following year.

He is revered as one of the founders of modern Italy. He continued to grieve for Anita, and when he rode out to acclaim the first king of a unified Italy, he wore one of her scarves.

Anita Garibaldi is remembered as a heroine in both Italy and Brazil. A monument to her was erected in Rome in 1932 to serve as her tomb after her remains were brought from their resting place in Nice; it depicted her on horseback with a drawn pistol. A statue of her was raised in Laguna in the 1970’s; it was titled “Heroine of Two Worlds.

 

10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410