Aleardo Aleardi - poet and patriot

History-loving writer dreamed of a united Italy

Aleardo Aleardi became an important
figure in the Risorgimento movement

Patriotic poet Aleardo Aleardi was born on this day in 1812 in Verona.  

At the height of his success he was hailed as an important figure in the Risorgimento movement and there is now a school named after him in the city of his birth.

Aleardi’s poems are mostly about events in Italian history and his love for his home country, which was under Austrian occupation while he was growing up.

He was originally named Gaetano Maria but changed his name to Aleardi, the surname of his father, Count Giorgio Aleardi, when he started writing.

Aleardi studied law at Padova University but gradually became more interested in poetry, influenced by some of his fellow students who were involved in the romantic Risorgimento movement.

Risorgimento, which means resurgence, was the name for the political and social movement that led to the consolidation of the different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of the Kingdom of Italy during the 19th century. Most historians agree that the process began in 1815 with the end of Napoleonic rule in Italy and was completed in 1871 when Rome became the capital of the new united Italy and King Victor Emmanuel took up residence in the Palazzo Quirinale.

Aleardi’s first success came with Le Lettere a Maria (Letters to Mary), in which he expressed his belief in the immortality of the soul. He reached the height of his success with I Canti, a collection of poems published in 1864, which was reprinted eleven times.

Aleardi was sent to Paris in 1848 by Daniele Manin, a hero of the Risorgimento movement, to try to gather support for freeing Venice from the Austrians.

He was arrested and imprisoned by the Austrians twice, but survived the ordeals to become a member of parliament after Italian unification.

He became a senator in 1873 and then a professor of aesthetics in Florence, where he died in 1878.

The University of Padova, where Aleardi studied law
before devoting his time increasingly to poetry

Travel Tip:

The University of Padova, where Aleardi studied law, was established in 1222 and is one of the oldest in the world, second in Italy only to the University of Bologna. The main university building, Palazzo del Bo in Via 8 Febbraio in the centre of Padova, used to house the medical faculty. You can take a guided tour to see the pulpit used by Galileo when he taught at the university between 1592 and 1610.

The romantic so-called 'Juliet balcony' became an attraction
for visitors to visitors to Verona

Travel tip:

Verona, where Aleardi was born, is the second biggest city in the Veneto. It is home to the first-century Roman Arena, famous for staging open air opera productions, and Casa di Giulietta, which has a romantic marble ‘Juliet’ balcony, although there is little evidence that the real-life Romeo ever stood below it declaring his love for Juliet.


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Villa Giusti armistice

Talks held at villa in Padova end First World War in Italy

The Villa Giusti, owned by Count Giusti del Giardino, just
outside Padua, was the scene of the historic treaty signing

An armistice signed between Italy and Austria-Hungary at Villa Giusti near Padua ended World War I on the Italian front on this day in 1918.

After the Allied troops were victorious in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the Austria-Hungary commanding officers asked for a ceasefire and for peace talks.

They were invited to Villa Giusti at Mandria just outside Padua, which was owned by Count Giusti del Giardino, a former mayor of Padua and an Italian senator.

The principal signatories on the Italian side were Tenente Generale Pietro Badoglio and Maggior Generale Scipione Scipioni. Leading the Austria-Hungary delegation was General Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau.

During the war, the Villa Giusti had been the temporary residence of King Victor Emmanuel III when he was away from the front.

The signing of the armistice came after the commanders of the Austro-Hungarian Army sought a ceasefire. Their troops were fatigued, while at home the Austro-Hungarian Empire was tearing itself apart under ethnic lines. If the empire were to survive, it would have to withdraw from the war.

As the Battle of Vittorio Veneto reached a near-stalemate, the Austro-Hungarian force started a chaotic withdrawal. While a truce was being negotiated, the Italians reached Trento and Udine and landed in Trieste.  The Austro-Hungarians at first threatened to pull out of the talks, but on November 3 they accepted the armistice.

The armistice was seen by many Italians as the final phase of the Risorgimento, the movement started in 1815 to unify Italy. The bells of a nearby church rang out when news came from the villa that the armistice had been agreed.

Travel tip:

Villa Giusti in Via Armistizio, Mandria, is just outside Padua. Guided visits can be made to the villa by arrangement. The furniture in the room where negotiations were conducted remains just as it was on that day. Visitors can even see the round table on which the armistice was signed. Tel: +39 049 867 0492.

Vittorio Veneto's present day Piazza del Popolo, with the
city's Municipio (Town Hall) in the background

Travel tip:

Two separate towns in the Veneto region, Ceneda and Serravalle, were merged and renamed Vittorio in 1866 in honour of King Vittorio Emanuele II. After the last, decisive battle in the First World War had taken place nearby, the city was renamed Vittorio Veneto. Franco Zeffirelli shot some of the scenes for his film version of Romeo and Juliet against the backdrop of 15th century buildings in Seravalle.

Also on this day:

1560: The birth of painter Annibale Carracci

1801: The birth of composer Vincenzo Bellini

1810: The premiere of Rossini's first opera, La cambiale di matrimonio

1908: The birth of former president Giovanni Leone

1931: The birth of actress Monica Vitti

(Picture credit: Municipio at Vittorio Veneto by Mauro)

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