Just last spring, Anita Garibaldi, the great-granddaughter of the “Hero of Two Worlds,” visited Caldwell College to talk about her family’s legacy. Anita’s great-grandfather Giuseppe Garibaldi was instrumental in militarily unifying Italy in the 1860s. He embodied the liberal nationalist ideals of the nineteenth century, and has been described as “Hercules, Robin Hood, and George Washington, all rolled up into one.”
Anita’s visit to the college concluded a series of three lectures dubbed “FOCUS ON SICILY.” Beginning in January with a meticulous overview of ancient Sicilian history by native archaeologist Gaetano Salemi, the Focus continued in February with a presentation by Dr. Sally Jo Weber of Sicily’s influence on opera. The idea to focus on the most conquered island in the Mediterranean was significant for Anita, considering her forebear’s famous excursion into Sicily with his Thousand Red Shirts.
“There are two kinds of people the selfish ones who never sacrifice anything for the common good, and the true patriots who freely sacrifice what is most dear to them for the benefit of others. The latter are always misunderstood, insulted and dragged through the dirt, while the former rule the world.” These were the words uttered by General Garibaldi over a century ago.
It was with this in mind that I asked Ms. Garibaldi what kind of reception was waiting for him when he came ashore the Sicilian port city of Marsala. She responded, “Contrary to what one thinks, Garibaldi never did something just like that He waited many months before deciding to go to Sicily because he wanted to know that something was being prepared there, and there would be people ready to join them when they got there. I mean this was very important, you see, because there were very few people goinga thousand. But I think, you see, looking at the trip of Sicily, it’s very difficult to understand what really made this unless you think about the things that went on before and the preparation.”
In her opinion, the most visible legacy in Sicily from the Red Shirts is “this necessity to be free” because after all “the Sicilians want to be free.” Anita declared that the Sicilians have always been a very proud people. This is why she feels that “if they were left free, they would be much, much better off than being too tied down. In fact, it’s one of the very few areas in Italy where there’s a reasonable amount of independence.”
So what possibility is there of an autonomous southern Italian nation? Would it be a desirable goal? “I think in the European context, it’s very important that Italy keeps united,” argues Garibaldi. She continues that it might not be such a bad idea for a certain level of decentralization since “each little town has got its own traditions, its own cooking, [and] its own culture.”
In reality, her great-grandfather actually supported a “League of Democracies,” or confederation of Republics. This fact, combined with Garibaldi’s reputation as “the most loved figure of all in the world” could be a very important selling point for potential Presidential candidates in 2008. From Anita’s perspective, America could benefit a lot from Italy’s friendship just as Italy benefited from a friendship with Great Britain in the past. She reasons that, “it’s not something, you know, to underestimate because there were very few democracies then, even fewer than now. And he already thought that this way of governing, although it wasn’t perfect obviously, was the best way to ensure human rights and the respect of laws… it’s not an easy system to export. It needsa consciousness of people, you know, the responsibility of each person towards the common good which you don’t find in most countries even now. We are a minority, aren’t we in fact.” Anita Garibaldi currently resides in Rome, and is actively involved in trying to shape Italy’s future.
