Rocco Verduci (3 August 1824, Caraffa del Bianco – 2 October 1847,

Gerace Gerace (; , also known as ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Gerace is located some inland from Locri, yet the latter town and the sea can be seen from Gerace's perch atop a vertica ...

) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

of the Insurrection of 1847 in the Two Sicilies. During the insurrection in the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

of September 1847, Verduci led the rebellion in the district of

. The aims of the insurrection were 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 ...

and the abolition of the monarchy. After having taken over several villages, and proclaimed the suppression of the taxes on imports and exports and the reduction by half of the costs of salt and tobacco, the rebellion in the district of Gerace was eventually crushed by the arrival of royal troops. The revolutionary leaders, including Verduci, had to flee to the mountains, where they were eventually denounced, arrested, and sentenced to death. Rocco Verduci (aged 23) and four other members of the Gerace Revolt were executed in

on the morning of October 2nd, 1847, and are today remembered as the ''Five Martyrs of Gerace''.

Notes

References

* Vincenzo Cataldo. 2000. ''Cospirazioni, Economia e Società nel Distretto di Gerace dal 1847 all'Unità d'Italia''. Ardore, Arti Grafiche GS. * Vittorio Visalli. 1987. ''Lotta e martirio del popolo calabrese (1847-1848)''. Edizioni Brenner. {{DEFAULTSORT:Verduci, Rocco 1824 births 1847 deaths Italian people of the Italian unification People of the Revolutions of 1848