He was born in 1805, Genoa. His father was a University Professor but had radical political views and he was influenced by the Jacobins (an extreme group in the French Revolution).
When Mazzini was born, Genoa was in the Ligurian Republic, which was under the influence of Napoleon.
Mazzini joined Carbonari at a young age. He formed the ‘Young Italy’ movement to liberate Italy on line of Carbonari and sought to create a unified Italian republic through a series of popular referendums but the Republic was destroyed by Napoleon lll.
Giuseppe Mazzini had been a Carbonaro but the events of 1830-1831 made him leave the Carbonaro. He also felt that the Carbonaro were traitors.
Mazzini called on Charles Felix to lead efforts to remove Austria from Italy. Charles Felix said Mazzini should be arrested if he enters Piedmont; he was clearly against overthrowing the Austrians.
Mazzini spent 3 months in prison in Piedmont in 1830-1831. After leaving prison, he went off to Marseilles.
He tried to bring unification multiple times by revolts especially in Milan and Lombardi, but failed.
The failure of revolutionary uprisings both in 1831 and 1848 meant that the mantle now fell on Sardinia Piedmont under its ruler King Victor Emmanuel II to unify the Italian states through war.
He was, however, the ideological spirit behind unification and major spirit behind nationalism and made unification a popular cause.
To Mazzini, the unification of Italy had to involve radical, social and political change and had to be Republican and not monarchist.
Mazzini’s contributions to the Italian Unification; a writer, agitator, philosopher and a theorist.
He encouraged national revolutions among other groups, such as the Irish and the Poles, and was a leader in the short-lived Roman Republic of 1849.