Luciano Manara (23 March 1825 – 30 June 1849) was a Milanese soldier and politician of the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

era, who took part in 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 Kin ...

Life

Manara 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 ...

in 1825. A friend of Carlo Cattaneo, in 1848 he participated in the

Five Days of Milan The Five Days of Milan ( ) was an insurrection and a major event in the Revolutionary Year of 1848 that started the First Italian War of Independence. On 18 March, a rebellion arose in the city of Milan, and in five days of street fighting ...

(leading, among others, the operation that led to the capture of Porta Tosa) and in the

First Italian War of Independence The First Italian War of Independence ( it, Prima guerra d'indipendenza italiana), part of the Italian Unification (''Risorgimento''), was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other ...

with a group of volunteers he had organised himself. On the Austrians' return, he fled to

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, where he was put at the head of a corps of

bersaglieri The Bersaglieri, singular Bersagliere, (, "sharpshooter") are a troop of marksmen in the Italian Army's infantry corps. They were originally created by General Alessandro La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Army, which ...

, with whom he fought on the Po and at La Cava (now renamed Cava Manara after him). Fighting in defence of the

and as

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

, he died aged only 24 at the battle at Villa Spada on 30 June. His funeral was held at the church of

San Lorenzo in Lucina The Minor Basilica of St. Lawrence in Lucina ( it, Basilica Minore di San Lorenzo in Lucina or simply it, San Lorenzo in Lucina; la, S. Laurentii in Lucina) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. ...

, with the homily spoken by Don

Ugo Bassi Ugo Bassi (12 August 1800 – 8 August 1849) was a Roman Catholic priest and Italian nationalist. Bassi was born at Cento, Emilia-Romagna, and received his early education at University of Bologna. An unhappy love affair induced him to becom ...

. For a short time his body remained in Rome, since his mother was unable to gain permission from the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

authorities in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to have it taken to

. With the remains of

Emilio Morosini Emilio Morosini (1830 – 1 July 1849) was an Italian patriot who participated in the Risorgimento. Morosini was born in Varese. Educated in Fava and studying at the Gymnasium in Brera and the liceo at Porta Nuova, he became friends with Enri ...

and

Enrico Dandolo Enrico Dandolo ( anglicised as Henry Dandolo and Latinized as Henricus Dandulus; c. 1107 – May/June 1205) was the Doge of Venice from 1192 until his death. He is remembered for his avowed piety, longevity, and shrewdness, and is known for his ...

(the latter having been killed at Villa Corsini), it was eventually brought to

Vezia Vezia is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Geography Vezia has an area, , of . Of this area, or 48.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 28.1% is forested. Of the rest of the land, ...

(Lugano), where it was temporarily laid to rest in the family vault of the

Morosini Morosini is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Morosini family *Piermario Morosini (1986–2012), Italian footballer * Sergio Rossetti Morosini (1953– ), New York author, painter, sculptor and independent filmmaker, ha ...

. At Manara's mother's continued prayers and supplications, in 1853 the Austrian emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

granted permission for the body to be taken to

Barzanò Barzanò ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. Barzanò borders the following municipalities: Barzago, Cassago Bria ...

(where the Manara family had a villa), so long as its progress and reburial there was "strictly private". Only on Italy's unification in 1864 was the Manara family allowed to erect their family monument, in grey and white stone in the Romantic style, with a bas-relief portrayal of him beside a weeping veiled female figure (representing his mother or the Motherland). The inscription on his monument reads: The monument is surrounded by a small park of cypress trees, with a chapel along whose two sides are ten white marble tombstones of equal size commemorating Luciano's sisters, Virginia in Manati and Deidamia, his wife Carmelita Fè and his three sons.

Notes

External links

Inscription at Milan

Inscription at Antegnate
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080529045458/http://www.comune.barzano.lc.it/index.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Manara, Luciano 1825 births 1849 deaths Military personnel from Milan Italian people of the Italian unification Italian military personnel killed in action