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Mazzini at 150: the Italian death of a London exile

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Abstract

The year 2022 will mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Giuseppe Mazzini, the spiritual father of the Italian Republic and one of the best political minds of the nineteenth century. In this review, we revisit the events surrounding Mazzini’s death, based on a report published in 1872 by Dr. Giovanni Rossini, the Italian physician who cared for him during his last days in Pisa. The detailed clinical information provided by Dr. Rossini suggests quite strongly that Mazzini’s most likely cause of death was gastroesophageal cancer complicated by aspiration pneumonia. Surprisingly, there are no published medline entries concerning the cause of death of this Italian patriot and revolutionary, who spent 41 years of his life in exile, was admired by Dickens, Meredith and Carlyle, and is considered not only one of the founding fathers of Italy but also one of the visionaries behind the idea of a United Europe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care, SKMC of Thomas Jefferson University, 1001 Locust Street–Suite 309C, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Salvatore Mangione

  2. Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Via Alvaro del Portillo, 21, 00128, Rome, Italy

    Luca Borghi

  3. Warwick Medical School, Biomedical Sciences, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK

    Raffaella Bianucci

Authors
  1. Salvatore Mangione
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  2. Luca Borghi
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  3. Raffaella Bianucci
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All authors have participated in the conception of this work, and the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data.

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Correspondence to Salvatore Mangione.

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Mangione, S., Borghi, L. & Bianucci, R. Mazzini at 150: the Italian death of a London exile. Intern Emerg Med 16, 1755–1758 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-021-02728-6

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