Ernesto Pozzi

Born in Acquate, near Lecco, on July 9, 1843, Ernesto Pozzi was an Italian patriot, lawyer, and politician. As a student, he first spent time in the seminary at San Pietro in Barlassina, then continued his studies in Milan before setting them aside in 1860 to join the patriotic cause linked to Giuseppe Garibaldi.

He took part as a Garibaldian volunteer in several major campaigns, including the Expedition of the Thousand era through the second Medici expedition to Sicily, the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866, the campaign for the liberation of Rome in 1867, and later the Franco-Prussian War alongside Garibaldi. After these experiences, he returned to his legal studies, attending universities in Turin, Genoa, and Pisa, where he earned his degree.

Pozzi is remembered as a figure shaped by both idealism and action: a man of the Risorgimento who moved from youthful activism into professional and political life. The surviving accounts describe him as energetic, committed, and closely tied to the patriotic struggles that helped define modern Italy.