11 Facts About Giovanni Passannante

Giovanni Passannante was accompanied by his wife Margherita and the prime minister Benedetto Cairoli.

Giovanni Passannante's action brought disorder in many cities, with a total of several dead, wounded, and arrested.

Some newspapers directed baseless charges against Giovanni Passannante: Verona's L'Arena and Milan's Corriere della Sera portrayed him as a brigand who had killed a woman in the past, while in a lithograph published in Turin, it was reported that his father was a camorrista.

Giovanni Passannante's family was jailed; only his brother was able to escape.

Giovanni Passannante claimed that the ideas of Risorgimento had been betrayed and that the government was indifferent to the impact on already poor people of increases in the flour tax.

Giovanni Passannante was sentenced to death on 29 March 1879, although capital punishment was expected only in instances of actual regicide.

Giovanni Passannante was imprisoned in Portoferraio on the island of Elba, off the Tuscan coast, in a small and dark cell below sea level, with no toilet facilities and in complete isolation.

Giovanni Passannante fell ill with scurvy, became infested with taenia solium and lost body hair.

Giovanni Passannante's skin became discoloured and his eyes were affected by the lack of light.

In 1899, the parliamentarian Agostino Bertani and the journalist Anna Maria Mozzoni reported Giovanni Passannante's maltreatment, causing a scandal.

Giovanni Passannante died in Montelupo Fiorentino, at the age of 60, five days before his 61st birthday.