Oleograph on canvas of Giuseppe Mazzini

Mediagallery

Giuseppe Mazzini

Anonymous – Oleograph on canvas
Portrait of Giuseppe Mazzini. Below is a description of Mazzini by the Russian writer Aleksandr Herzen (Moscow 1812 – Paris 1870).
Mazzini (Genoa 1805 – Pisa 1872) is very natural and courteous, but in discussion especially it is clear that he is accustomed to dominate; he conceals with difficulty his irritation when faced with a contradiction and sometimes does not conceal it at all […] In his study, smoking the ever-present cigar, Mazzini in Geneva, like the Pope in Avignon before him, concentrated in his hands all the telegraph wires that put him in contact with the entire peninsula. He was aware of every movement of his party, felt even the smallest tremor and responded immediately, tirelessly imprinted the general direction on everything and everyone.[…] Country priests, coach drivers, Lombard princes, smugglers, innkeepers, women, bandits, all are put to work, all are links in the chain that he heads and that obeys him.

Aleksandr Herzen (Moscow 1812 – Paris1870), Russian writer