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

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

. 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 ...

Biography

Saffi was born in

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

, then part of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

(now

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

region). He received an education in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 ...

, 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, to some other part of the Catho ...

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 ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. Saffi was a member of the triumvirate that attempted to establish a democratic republic. The revolutionaries, however, were soon (June 1849) crushed by French troops, and Saffi retired to

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) 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 roughly coextensive with ...

as an exile. From there he joined Mazzini in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and then moved with him to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. 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) (born Georgiana Janet Craufurd). She was also a fervent supporter of Mazzini, and a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. 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 ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, 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: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

of the newly formed

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. 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 ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

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 from the Papal States People of the Revolutions of 1848 Italian people of the Italian unification Italian feminists Male feminists Critics of the Catholic Church Italian independence activists Academic staff of the University of Bologna Teachers of Italian

Biography

See also

References

External links