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

Risorgimento 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 ...

era, who took part in the

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 ...

Life

Manara was born 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 ...

in 1825. A friend of

Carlo Cattaneo Carlo Cattaneo (; 15 June 1801 – 6 February 1869) was an Italian philosopher, writer, and activist, famous for his role in the Five Days of Milan in March 1848, when he led the city council during the rebellion. Early life and education Cat ...

, in 1848 he participated in the

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

(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 (), part of the ''Risorgimento'' or unification of Italy, was fought by the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont) and Italian volunteers against the Austrian Empire and other conse ...

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

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, 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 Ferrero La Marmora on 18 June 1836 to serve in the Royal Sardinian Ar ...

, with whom he fought on the Po and at La Cava (now renamed

Cava Manara Cava Manara is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 35 km south of Milan and about 7 km southwest of Pavia, not far from the confluence of the Ticino and the Po rivers. The '' ...

after him). Fighting in defence of the

and as

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

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 supportin ...

, 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 ( or simply ; ) is a Roman Catholic parish, titular church, and minor basilica in central Rome, Italy. The basilica is located in Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina in the Rione Colonna, about two blocks ...

, 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 become a ...

. 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 * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

authorities in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to have it taken to

. With the remains of Emilio Morosini and

Enrico Dandolo Enrico Dandolo (Anglicised as Henry Dandolo, and Latinised as Henricus Dandulus; – May/June 1205) was the doge of Venice from 1192 until his death in 1205. He is remembered for his avowed piety, longevity, and shrewdness, and his role in the ...

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

Vezia Vezia is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lugano (district), Lugano in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Geography Vezia has an area, , of . Of this area, or 48.9% is used for agricult ...

(Lugano), where it was temporarily laid to rest in the family vault of the Morosini. At Manara's mother's continued prayers and supplications, in 1853 the Austrian emperor

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

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 Bri ...

(where the Manara family had a villa), so long as its progress and reburial there was "strictly private". Only in 1864, after the

Unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

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