Giuseppe Garibaldi

August 14 • Giuseppe Garibaldi

August 14 Heritage Minute honoring Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of the Italian Risorgimento
Hero of the Risorgimento
Listen to the Giuseppe Garibaldi Heritage Minute

Giuseppe Garibaldi, born in Nice in 1807, became one of the central figures of the Italian Risorgimento and the struggle to unite the Italian peninsula. A soldier, sailor, and revolutionary, he fought for republican and nationalist causes in both South America and Europe.

In 1860, Garibaldi led his famous Expedition of the Thousand, a volunteer force known as the Redshirts, from Genoa to Sicily. Their campaign defeated Bourbon forces and brought Sicily and much of southern Italy into the movement for national unification.

Garibaldi later continued fighting for Italian unity and became one of the most admired patriotic figures of the nineteenth century. He died in 1882 on the island of Caprera, leaving a legacy of courage, sacrifice, and devotion to a united Italy.

Garibaldi helped turn the dream of Italian unity into a nation, becoming one of the enduring symbols of the Risorgimento.