Introduction 

Goffredo Mameli was born on September 5th, 1827 in Genoa, Italy. He died 22 years later after his most significant accomplishment. While being the youngest in the world, Mameli is also the only known person in Italy to compose a national anthem. Although his anthem goes by the name Inno di Mameli, it is best known in Italy as Fratelli d' Italia which means "brothers of Italy". Considering the fact that Mameli is originally a poet, Inno di Mameli first started off as a poem. 

 

     When Mameli was still in school, he met a friend of his mother's whose name was Giuseppe Mazzini. Mazzini was the republican leader of Italy, a political activist, and a nationalist in the 1830s as well as the 1840s. During this time period Rome went through a war as Mazzini tried to unify Italy again after the split of the monarchy which was created by Napolean. After seeing what Mazzini was fightning for, Mameli fell in love with his patriotic concepts and republican sentiments. He became inspired and started writing verses expressing his passion for patriarchal world. 

 

     Goffredo Mameli read his verses to his friend Michele Novaro. Novaro then proposed to Mameli that he should turn his verses into a song. After agreeing with Novaro, Novaro added music to his words. A month later Mameli was suggested to perform his song at an assembly. After his song was heard, everyone fell in love with how the words followed the events and traumatic stories Italy had been through. Goffredo Mameli died two years later fighting for his country.

 

     Mameli's song did not become the official anthem of Italy until 1946. Despite the fact that many of Italy's people loved this song in the past, there has been several discussions about changing Italy's national anthem. This is due to the fact that they cannot relate to the traumatic experiences that those in the past went through. Overall, Mameli's poem reflected the memories and tragedies that the people have been through in the past. This made Italy gladly appreciate it as they focused on progression as a country and as a whole.

 

Works Cited

 

Andrews, Cath. "The Italian National Anthem : Italian Culture and Traditions in Words and Music." Explore Italian Culture. Explore Italian Culture, 2008-2015. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.

<http://www.explore-italian-culture.com/italian-national-anthem.html>

 

Chastain, James. "Guissepe Mazzini." Guissepe Mazzini. Ohio, 23 Oct. 2004. Web. 09 Sept. 2015. <https://www.ohio.edu/chastain/ip/mazzini.htm>. 

 

The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica. "Goffredo Mameli |Italian Poet." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Britannica, 2015. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.

<http://www.britannica.com/biography/Goffredo-Mameli>. 

 

"Mameli's Hymn -- The Italian National Anthem." MMDTKW. MMDTKW, n.d. Web. 20 Aug. 2015. <http://www.mmdtkw.org/VMameli.html>. 

 

Ruhl, Marcus. "Legends and History of Rome Italy." Roman Life - Rome Italy. Marcus Ruhl, 2013. Web. 09 Sept. 2015.

<http://www.romanlife-romeitaly.com/history-of-rome-italy.html#top>.