Giuseppe Garibaldi was a leader in the struggle for Italian
unifi cation and independence. When Garibaldi was exiled
from Italy, he fled to South America, where he lived for 12
years and fought in another struggle for independence—
this time for the independence of Uruguay from Argentina.
While in Brazil, Garibaldi married Anita Ribeiro, a young
woman from Laguna, a small town in Southern Brazil. As
husband and wife, the two traveled everywhere together. It
was known that Anita even accompanied her husband to
battles.
However, on August 4, 1849, Anita, pregnant and sick, died
in Garibaldi’s arms.
Garibaldi never did get over his grief at Anita’s death. Over
a decade later, he was still grieving, when he fi rst went to
meet the king of a unifi ed Italy, wearing one of her scarves.