Garibaldi grew up to become one of the 19th century's most celebrated military commanders, fighting first in South America's independence wars before returning to Italy, where his 'Expedition of the Thousand' in 1860 toppled Bourbon rule in Sicily and Naples and paved the way for a unified Kingdom of Italy. Revered across Europe and the Americas as a champion of republican liberty, he remains one of Italy's most enduring national heroes.
Born to a family of sailors in the Mediterranean port of Nice, Giuseppe Garibaldi spent his early adulthood at sea before immersing himself in revolutionary politics, joining Giuseppe Mazzini's Young Italy movement and fleeing into exile after a failed uprising in Piedmont in 1834.
His exile took him to South America, where for over a decade he fought in the civil wars of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, developing the guerrilla tactics and mythic red-shirted persona that would later define his Italian campaigns. He returned to Europe in 1848 amid the continent-wide revolutions, defending the short-lived Roman Republic before being forced into exile again.
Garibaldi's defining moment came in 1860, when he led roughly a thousand volunteers — the 'Redshirts' — in a daring invasion of Sicily, defeating Bourbon forces many times their number and sweeping north through Naples. Rather than seize power himself, he handed his conquests to King Victor Emmanuel II, enabling the proclamation of a unified Kingdom of Italy in 1861. Celebrated from London to New York, Garibaldi became a global symbol of republican heroism, and his birthday remains a touchstone of Italian national memory.
Key people: Giuseppe Garibaldi