Goffredo Mameli

Goffredo Mameli (Italian pronunciation: [ɡofˈfreːdo maˈmɛːli]; Genoa, 5 September 1827 – Rome, 6 July 1849), an Italian patriot, poet, and writer was a notable figure in the Italian Risorgimento. He is also the author of the lyrics of Il Canto degli Italiani, the national anthem.

The son of an aristocratic Sardinian admiral, Mameli was born in Genoa where his father was in command of the fleet of the kingdom of Sardinia. At the age of seven he was sent to Sardinia, to his grandfather's, to escape the risk of cholera, but soon came back to Genoa to complete his studies.

The achievements of Mameli's very short life are concentrated in only two years, during which time he played major parts in insurrectional movements and the Risorgimento.

In 1847 Mameli joined the Società Entelema, a cultural movement that soon would have turned to a political movement, and here he became interested in the theories of Giuseppe Mazzini.

Mameli is mostly known as the author of the lyrics of the Italian national anthem, Il Canto degli Italiani (music by Michele Novaro), better known in Italy as Inno di Mameli (Mameli's Hymn). These lyrics were used for the first time in November 1847, celebrating King Charles Albert of Sardinia in his visit to Genoa after his first reforms. Mameli's lyrics to a "hymn of the people" —"Suona la tromba"— were set by Giuseppe Verdi the following year.

Mameli was deeply involved in nationalist movements and some more "spectacular" actions are remembered, such as his exposition of the Tricolore (current Italian flag, then prohibited) to celebrate the expulsion of Austrians in 1846. Yet, he was with Nino Bixio (Garibaldi's later major supporter and friend) in a committee for public health, already on a clear Mazzinian position. In March 1848, hearing of the insurrection in Milan, Mameli organised an expedition with 300 other patriots, joined Bixio's troops that were already on site, and entered the town. He was then admitted to Garibaldi's irregular army (really the volunteer brigade of general Torres), as a captain, and met Mazzini.

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