Giussepe Peppino Garibaldi, an international warrior who fought alongside Madero. Today, one of the most famous squares in the CDMX bears his name.
Una de las plazas más populares de la Ciudad de México es Garibaldi, mundialmente famosa por albergar a una gran cantidad de músicos, por sus cantinas clásicas y por el Museo del Tequila. Existen dos teorias respecto a como este icónico lugar del Centro Histórico recibe su nombre, una es que es en honor de Giuseppe Peppino Garibaldi, a foreign hero of the Mexican Revolution who is rarely remembered and another who is remembered by his grandfather, Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), one of the most emblematic figures of the Risorgimento, the process of Italian unification in the 19th century.
Also known as Joseph Garibaldi, he is not to be confused with his namesake grandfather, the mythical Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) who helped unify Italy. Peppino was born on 29 July 1879 in MelbourneAustralia, and was the son of the Uruguayan Ricciotti Garibaldi and the Englishwoman Costance Hopcraft. Like his father and grandfather, he was involved in war activities from his youth.
Together with his father he fought in the Greco-Turkish war and later travelled to South America, a territory already extensively covered by his grandfather and father. He settled temporarily in Buenos Aires. He also took part in the British Army in the wars of liberation and in the Revolución Libertadora, where he fought against Cipriano Castro.
Tras un periodo de tranquilidad, en el que pudo evitar adentrarse en un conflicto bélico, Peppino Garibaldi llegó a México y se incorporó a las fuerzas de Francisco I. Madero. Su llegada no fue bien vista por todos los revolucionarios, quienes con ímpetu nacionalista reclamaron la incorporación de un extranjero. La oposición a su presencia fue manifestada por Pascual Orozco y Francisco Villa, sin embargo, Francisco I. Madero la defendió haciendo una comparación del combate de Lafayette junto a George Washington o de Francisco Xavier Mina, nacido en España, a favor de la Independencia de México.
It should be noted that Peppino Garibaldi was not the only foreigner, in fact he was a group of about forty people of different nationalities. For this reason, Madero appointed him head of the "Foreign Legion".
"Mr Garibaldi's grandfather, and even his father, have always put their swords at the service of the oppressed; for this reason he has done nothing but follow the noble example of his ancestors...".
His first military incursions into Mexico were the battles of Casas Grandes and Ciudad Juárez, where he fought alongside Eduardo and Raúl Madero, both brothers of Francisco I. Madero. When the forces of the Mexican Liberal Party triumphed and entered Mexico City, Giuseppe Peppino Garibaldi accompanied Madero in the car.
He initially travelled to the United States as a communicator for Madero, but was called by his father to fight on the other side of the world. He then went to the Balkans to take part in the war against Turkey. Later, he formed the Legione Garibaldina, which joined the French Legion during World War I, where he fought as a commander. The legion later joined the forces of the Royal Italian Army, where he held the rank of Brigadier General until his retirement in 1919.
In 1922, Peppino Garibaldi fought against Benito Mussolini's fascism, but was unsuccessful. From then on, he spent some time in the United States and others in Europe, until he was arrested by the Nazis during the period from 1943 to 1945. He was subsequently released and returned to Rome, where he died in 1950.
