Background
Daniele Manin was born on May 13, 1804, the son of a converted Jew who adopted the name of the patrician family that had sponsored him.
Daniele Manin was born on May 13, 1804, the son of a converted Jew who adopted the name of the patrician family that had sponsored him.
Daniele Manin studied law at the University of Padua and then took up practice in Venice.
Daniele Manin hated the Austrian domination of Venice and was injudiciously frank about it. On Jan. 18, 1848, he was arrested for treason.
His arrest served only to increase his popularity.
When this effort failed, and the king of Piedmont, Charles Albert, signed an armistice leaving Venetia under Austria, there was a wild scene in Venice leading to an attempt to lynch the Piedmontese representatives.
Manin intervened and, through the great prestige he enjoyed, saved their lives. Venice managed to retain its independence from Austria for almost another year.
After the support of the Piedmont ended, the Austrians began gradually to reoccupy all the Venetian mainland.
They voted to resist to the end. Austrian forces surrounded the city and began to bombard it from land and sea.
Under siege conditions the supply of food dwindled, and in July cholera spread throughout the city.
Defeat was inevitable, and on Aug. 24, 1849, Manin capitulated under the best terms possible: amnesty for all except himself and some other prominent citizens who had helped him. On August 27 Manin left for Paris, where he came to believe that the only hope for Italian unity lay with the Piedmontese monarchy.
He cooperated in the founding of the Società Nazionale Italiana, an organization devoted to the goal of unification under the Piedmont.
Daniele Manin became a convert from republicanism to monarchism, being convinced that only under the auspices of King Victor Emmanuel could Italy be freed, and together with Giorgio Pallavicini and Giuseppe La Farina he founded the Societa.
Daniele Manin married Teresa Perissinotti.