With the participation of the author, Abraham Borg, of the President Emeritus Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, Minister for Education and Employment, Evarist Bartolo and publisher Joseph Mizzi
Before going to England for his triumphal visit in April of 1864, Giuseppe Garibaldi came to Malta between 23 and 24 March to pay homage to the Island and its people, which for many years, hosted many of his exiled man after the aborted attempts of the uprisings during the period known as Risorgimento.
Garibaldi became a member of Giovine Italia in 1833 and was appointed by Mazzini to back up the Savoia expedition. The expedition was declared unsuccessful in February 1834, and as a consequence Garibaldi was sentenced to death and had to escape from Italy.
In August 1835, Garibaldi set sail from Marseilles to Rio de Janeiro, where he arrived in December 1835 or January 1836. He joined up the cause of Rio Grande do Sul and was given a letter of marque against the ships of the Imperial Government of Brazil.
Among the thirteen sailors there were two Maltese whose names were not known. During a fight out on the sea, Garibaldi was seriously injured and sought refuge in Gualeguay, Argentina. He was imprisoned with the sailors. From the documentation of the jury of the corsairs were discovered the names and the deeds of the Maltese. These documents were copied and published by an Italian diplomat in a little known book in 1964.
The book Garibaldi’s Maltese Corsairs recounts these events.
In collaboration with Midsea Books LTD
Ingresso libero