Garibaldi in 152 letters at the Museum of the Roman Republic

Alongside the legendary feats of war that fueled the myth during his life and even after his death, General Giuseppe Garibaldi's enormous national and international popularity also rests on his authentic and profound humanity which led him to turn to the personalities of power like the humblest people he met in his life with the same language and the same incisive simplicity.

The particular charisma of the man Garibaldi, nourished by a great generosity and an inflexible honesty, in fact also passed from his ability to always be courageously among his men, never entrenching himself behind his role as leader but rather substantiating it with affectionate relationships and friendly tending to form a large compact and supportive family, in a dense network of contacts in which each was indispensable to the other.

The 152 autograph letters and documents, mostly unpublished, pertaining to Leandro Mais' collection presented in the precious volume published by "Garibaldini per l'Italia Edizioni", therefore speak to us of a combative, idealistic Garibaldi, lover of democracy and freedom , projected into a future of civil progress for all peoples, but also of a frank, honest and caring man. The proclamations, the letters to his closest friends or the replies to the missives that always came to him in copious numbers from the ranks of his admirers, full of love for the homeland and the defense of human dignity, are in fact combined very naturally with scenes of life daily life in which on the contrary the paternal love for the children, the material attentions for the unemployed and the ex-combatants or the intimate simplicity and humility of the farmer-hero who takes care of the products of the earth with love emerge.

With the exception of a few years, the collection includes all the main seasons of the life of the Hero of Two Worlds, from his first success in South America to his last days in Caprera before his death on June 2, 1882. Among the documents historically more relevant are the letter signed on 11 November 1846 by a Josè Garibaldi Admiral of the Uruguayan fleet, the letter dated 27 January 1860 sent immediately after the marriage and the immediate separation from the Lombard countess Giuseppina Raimondi with reference to the famous signature of the " Milione di Fucili” or the autograph written in pencil by the General after the events in Aspromonte with his version of the events while the steamer “Duca di Genova” was taking him to prison in Forte Varignano in La Spezia. Other materials, on the other hand, more clearly contain a warmth of a family environment, that poetic affection that passes through requests for news, advice and care to be given to friends, children and animals, especially those of the beloved Caprera, while in the letter dated May 20, 1882, moving it is to notice, in the now visibly altered handwriting of the hero, the signs of the tragic suffering inflicted on him by the arthritic disease in the last days of his life.

The volume - accompanied by useful transcriptions and enriched by the presence of 106 names mentioned, 80 biographical notes, 59 photographic icons and 38 illustrations - therefore shows in these simple and direct missives, in which the proud and combative nature of the General is discovered, but also his profound humanity is the true face of the hero. A useful book for historians and researchers, but also for enthusiasts, teachers, students and families.

Speakers include Mara Minasi, head of the Museum of the Roman Republic and Garibaldi's memory, Paolo Macoratti, President of the “Garibaldini per l'Italia” Association and Anna Maria Isastia, associate professor of Contemporary History at La Sapienza University of Rome.