Ugo Bassi

Catholic Church National liberation and anti-colonial movements 1801–1849 ✕ Executed

Barnabite preacher who served as chaplain to the volunteers of Venice and Rome and was shot by the Austrians at Bologna in 1849

Born at Cento in 1801, he became a Barnabite novice after an unhappy love affair and took his vows in Rome in 1821, and he won fame as a preacher, travelling all over Italy in poverty. When the revolutions of 1848 broke out he joined General Durando's papal force as an army chaplain, his eloquence drawing recruits to the ranks, and was wounded three times at Treviso on 12 May 1848. Recovering in Venice, he fought for the Republic of San Marco. Under the Roman Republic he served with Garibaldi's forces against the French, tending the wounded under fire, and after the fall of Rome followed Garibaldi's retreat to San Marino. Captured by the Austrians near Comacchio on 3 August 1849, he was taken to Bologna and shot on 8 August. His execution enraged liberals all over Europe.