Goffredo Mameli

Goffredo Mameli was born in Genoa in 1827. Since his early age his literary talent was evident. In his late teens, he became involved in politics. His personal hero was Mazzini who, together with Garibaldi were considered the leaders of what later was to become the Risorgimento.

Goffredo Mameli fought in the first war of independence in Lombardy in 1848. After the armistice, against which he protested, he joined the troops of Garibaldi and entered, with him, in to Rome. He took part in the valiant defense of the Roman Republic against the French in 1849, was gravely wounded on June 3 of that year and taken to the hospice of the Trinità dei Pellegrini, where he died a month later and was buried at the adjacent church of Santa Maria in Montecelli. The French authorities refused to give the body to his father.

Today, along with other patriots who died for the Roman Republic, Goffredo Mameli lies on the Janiculum, near the spot where the city was most bravely defended.