Aurelio Saffi (August 13, 1819 – April 10, 1890: full name Marco Aurelio Saffi) was a Roman and Italian politician, active during the period of

Italian unification 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 ...

. He was an important figure in the radical republican current within the Risorgimento movement and close to its leader and chief inspiration,

Giuseppe 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 ...

Biography

Saffi was born in

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a '' comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Vi ...

, then part of 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 ...

(now

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

region). He received an education in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

, but began political activity in his native city, protesting against the bad administration of the

Papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

s. He was also a member of the communal and provincial councils between 1844 and 1845. Forlicesena forli

He soon became a fervent supporter of Mazzini's ideas, and in 1849 took part in the short-lived

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 ...

. Saffi was a member of the government that attempted to establish a democratic republic, inspired by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The revolutionaries, however, were soon (June 1849) crushed by French troops, and Saffi retired to

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

as an exile. From there he joined Mazzini in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and then moved with him to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Saffi returned to Italy only in 1852, to plan a series of risings to be held 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 ...

. After the failure of the project in 1853, he fled to England again and was condemned in absentia to twenty years in prison. He was appointed the first teacher of Italian at the Taylor Institute, Oxford, in 1856.Taylor Institution – an Introduction , accessed July 30, 2011. While in England he married (1857) Georgiana Janet Craufurd. She was also a fervent supporter of Mazzini, and a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. They had four sons: Attilio Joseph (1858 - 1923), Emilio John (1861 - 1930), Charles Balilla Louis (1863 - 1896) and Rinaldo Arthur (1868 - 1929). In 1860, Saffi moved to

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 adm ...

, again with Mazzini. The following year he was elected a deputy in the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

of the newly formed

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

. Some years later he returned to London, where he remained until 1867. He spent his last days in his villa in the Forlì countryside, moving to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

where he had received a professorial chair. He also devoted himself to collecting historical material connected to his friend Giuseppe Mazzini. He died at the age of seventy at his residence, Villa Saffi, which is now turned into a museum. There is a statue of Saffi in the central square of his native Forlì.

References

External links

*
Museo Saffi''Ricordi e scritti di Aurelio Saffi. Pubblicati per cura del Municipio di Forlì'' (14 volumes)
Biblioteca Gino Bianco {{DEFAULTSORT:Saffi, Aurelio 1819 births 1890 deaths People from Forlì Italian republicans Deputies of Legislature VIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature IX of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XVI of the Kingdom of Italy Politicians of Emilia-Romagna People of the Revolutions of 1848 Italian people of the Italian unification Italian feminists Male feminists Critics of the Catholic Church Italian independence activists University of Bologna faculty Teachers of Italian

Biography

See also

References

External links