Agostino Bertani (19 October 1812 – 10 April 1886) was an Italian revolutionary and physician during Italian unification.

Revolutionary

Bertani was born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

on 19 October 1812. His father was an administrator for the Napoleonic government of Lombardy. He graduated as a surgeon from the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

in 1835. After some travels, he settled down in 1839 to work as a surgeon in Milan. By 1848, he had been named the chief surgeon at the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan. With the outbreak of the

revolutions of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

, he participated in the leadership. He fearlessly advocated for democracy, and thus was opposed to the fusion of Lombard republic with the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

. Exiled from Lombardy, he gravitated to the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

of 1849, where as medical officer, organized another ambulance service similar to one he had established previously in Milan. After the fall of Rome, he withdrew to

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, where he worked with James Hudson, a British diplomat and supporter of Italian independence, for the freedom of

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

political prisoners. In 1859 he founded a revolutionary journal at Genoa. At the outbreak of the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, the Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859 ( it, Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana; french: Campagne d'Italie), was fought by the Second French Empire and t ...

in 1859, he joined as surgeon for the Garibaldian corps of the Cacciatori delle Alpi. After the war ended with the Conference of Villafranca, he became one of the organizers of the

Expedition of the Thousand The Expedition of the Thousand ( it, Spedizione dei Mille) was an event of the Italian Risorgimento that took place in 1860. A corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed from Quarto, near Genoa (now Quarto dei Mille) and landed in Mars ...

against the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Remaining at Genoa after Garibaldi's departure for Marsala, he organized four separate volunteer corps, two of which were intended for Sicily and two for the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

. The Sardinian Prime Minister, Camillo Cavour, however, commanded all four corps to sail for Sicily. Bertani allocated many of his efforts to organize a democratic republican Italy, merging the energies of

Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...

and Garibaldi.Rivista enciclopedica contemporanea], page 9. When Garibaldi took

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Bertani was appointed Garibaldi's secretary-general, in which capacity he reorganized the police, abolished the secret service fund, founded twelve infant asylums, prepared for the suppression of the religious orders, and planned the sanitary reconstruction of the city. He entered parliament in 1861 and opposed the Garibaldi's expedition against Rome. After Garibaldi was defeated at the

Battle of Aspromonte The Battle of Aspromonte, also known as the Day of Aspromonte ( it, Giornata dell'Aspromonte), was a minor engagement that took place on 29 August 1862, and was an inconclusive episode of the Italian unification process. It is named after the ne ...

in 1862, he treated Garibaldi's wounds. In 1866, during the

Third Italian War of Independence The Third Italian War of Independence ( it, Terza Guerra d'Indipendenza Italiana) was a war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866. The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in ...

, he organized the medical service for the 40,000 Garibaldians, and the following year fought at the

Battle of Mentana The Battle of Mentana was fought on November 3, 1867, near the village of Mentana, located north-east of Rome (then in the Papal States, now modern Lazio), between French-papal troops and the Italian volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who wer ...

Life in parliament

In 1866, Bertani founded a journal for social reform called '' La Riforma''. Bertani's parliamentary career was less successful than his revolutionary activity. After the capture of Rome in 1870 he became the leader of the extreme left in the new Italian parliament. His chief work as deputy was an inquiry into the sanitary conditions of the peasantry, and the preparation of the sanitary code adopted by the administration of Francesco Crispi. With the introduction of " transformismo" by Agostino Depretis in 1876, drawing ministers from the right and left, Bertani refused to enter the government. In 1885, along with

Anna Maria Mozzoni Anna Maria Mozzoni (5 May 1837 – 14 June 1920) is commonly held as the founder of the woman's movement in Italy. One of the roles she is most known for is her pivotal involvement in gaining woman's suffrage in Italy. Biography Mozzoni was born ...

, he made a visit to the anarchist

Giovanni Passannante Giovanni Passannante (; February 19, 1849 – February 14, 1910) was an Italian anarchist who attempted to assassinate king Umberto I of Italy, the first attempt against Savoy monarchy since its origins. Originally condemned to death, his sentence ...

, imprisoned for attempted murder to King

Umberto I Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900. Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...

, and denounced his prison conditions. Bertani remained in parliament until his death on 10 April 1886.

Commemoration

The Italian ''

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' changed its name to ''Marina Militare'' ("M ...

'' (Royal Navy) destroyer , commissioned in 1919, was named for Bertani.

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertani, Agostino 1812 births 1886 deaths Politicians from Milan Historical Left politicians Historical Far Left politicians Physicians from the Austrian Empire Deputies of Legislature VIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature IX of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of the Kingdom of Italy Physicians from Milan Italian revolutionaries