06/05/2026
Born in Nice in 1807, Giuseppe Garibaldi was working as a merchant seaman when he became involved in the Young Italy movement, dedicated to creating a unified Italian republic. After participating in a failed uprising in Genoa and being sentenced to death, at age 27 Garibaldi fled to South America. There he led independence movements in Uruguay and Brazil, displaying the charisma, boldness, and military brilliance that would win him fame, before returning to become one of the principal leaders of the Italian unification movement, thus causing him to be called “A Hero of Two Worlds.” His characteristic red shirt and poncho, adopted from the gaucho traditions of South America, became widely imitated and Garibaldi came to be regarded as the world’s leading exemplar of revolutionary nationalism.
Garibali’s exploits are far too numerous to be summarized in a single Dose. The crowning accomplishment of his life was his role in the unification of Italy, culminating in his “Expedition of the Thousand” in a small army under his command wrested Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula from control by the Spanish House of Bourbon.
Garibaldi’s legacy is impressive and far reaching. He is regarded at the greatest of Italian heroes (“the George Washington of Italy”) and his admirers have spanned the political spectrum. Communists considered him to the founder of Italian nationalism and a precursor to fascism, while Socialists and Communists have admired him for his firm stands against clericalism and for political equality. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Secretary of State William Seward offered Garibaldi a commission as major general in the U.S. army (Garibaldi replied that he would accept only if made commanding general of all U.S. forces and be given the power to abolish slavery). Garibaldi’s admirers included Alfred Lord Tennyson, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Abraham Lincoln, and Che Guevara (“The only hero the world has ever needed is called Giuseppe Garibaldi.”). Places named for him span the globe, including places in Canada, the U.S., Brazil, Great Britain, Mexico, Russia, and Australia. When he visited England in 1864, “Garibaldimania” broke out, as immense crowds flocked to see him.
Although he served in the French National Assembly and the Italian Parliament, Garibaldi’s achievements were primarily military, and he never sought political power. After capturing Sicily, he declared himself dictator, but in the name of the King of Italy. Six months later, when his victory there was complete, Garibaldi stepped down as dictator, turned over authority to the king, and retired to his farm.
On June 2, 1882 (144 years ago today) Giuseppe Garibaldi died at age 74, on his farm on the island of Caprera, off the coast of Sardinia. “Garibaldi is the only wholly admirable figure in modern history,” wrote English historian A.J.P. Taylor.
The photo is from 1861.
