A life to be remembered – The story of Menotti Garibaldi, Italian Consul in Ceylon
This is the story of one of the most illustrious Italian diplomats - Menotti Garibaldi, Consul of Italy in Ceylon in the 1930s who was my great grandfather. These were the years when Ceylon was still a British colony, so relations were not managed through an Embassy but through a Consulate. In fact, the first Italian Embassy in Colombo was only opened following Sri Lankan Independence.
Menotti came from a very eminent family. His grandfather was the famous Giuseppe Garibaldi, known as "the hero of the two worlds" for having annexed the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to the nascent Kingdom of Italy in 1861, thus leading to the unification of Italy. His grandmother, Anita, was a famous Brazilian revolutionary and - together with her husband – they fought for the principle of independence also in various Latin American countries.
Menotti was born on the 12th of May 1884 in Rome. Menotti Jr’s father was Ricciotti, the fourth son of Giuseppe and Anita Garibaldi. Menotti was given the name of his father’s brother, Menotti Sr, Giuseppe and Anita’s first son. Like his brothers, Menotti attended the Methodist School in Rome, learning English as his mother tongue and learning about English culture as his mother Constance Hopcraft was from London. He then went onto graduate from the Naval School of Gaeta in 1901 at the age of seventeen.
Following his father’s advice of seeking an internship outside Europe, so as to learn a trade, Menotti left for Egypt, where his older brother Ricciotti Jr, was already located, and where his other brother Sante would arrive in the following year. He shared their taste for hard work, adventure and personal independence. The young men were offered positions in a number of English firms. In 1906, Menotti left Egypt for China, and founded - in Tien Tsin in the Italian concession - an important construc
tion company funded with English capital. That company would eventually participate in the creation of the Chinese rail network including the first Beijing-Shanghai line, Shanghai tram network and the Tien Tsin tram network.
Menotti remained in China until 1915 and when Italy went to war with the allies, he enlisted as was his family’s tradition among the “Cacciatori delle Alpi” (Hunters of the Alps) along on the Italo German front. In December that same year, he was promoted to Captain and soon thereafter as Major for his war merits. Menotti was conferred two silver medals for his military achievements. Having specific skills, he went into service for his motherland in 1918 being transferred to the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff. His first appointment was to Siberia as Italy’s delegate to the Inter-Allied Technical Committee comprising Americans, British, Japanese and French, as well as Italians, for the reorganization of Trans-Siberian Railway. He was involved in the project by the Head of the
Committee American Stevens, working on connecting the railways of Siberia and Manchuria, an initiative which was also supported by Japan. The aim implied the delimitation of borders.
In the archives is a photograph of Menotti with Renata Galluzzi, daughter of an Italian living in Hong Kong, whom he married in 1913. The marriage was later annulled in 1928. The Holy See has never, thus far, revealed the mystery of that marriage or of its annulment.
Menotti Garibaldi was conferred numerous recognitions by the Chinese Government during this time including an award in Mandarinate, a testament to the levels in which he was able to ingratiate himself within Chinese society which is considered very challenging for a foreigner to penetrate. Japan too conferred accolades on him.
In September 1929, he was sent to Massaua in Eritrea, an Italian colony since 1885. He returned to Rome in 1932 with his Belgian wife Maria Enrica Ortensia
Scheerdijk (known better as Horta), whom he had married the previous year. He was then appointed Consul of Italy in Colombo.
Despite battling some health conditions, Menotti's time in Colombo was industrious. He proceeded to reorganize the Consulate's offices. In the archives is his analysis of the members of the Italian community resident in Ceylon, as well as his declarations of personal satisfaction for the tasks he implemented and desire to be able to continue the commitment in Ceylon.
During his tenure - between 1933 and 1934 - he also received a visit from the Nobel Laureate in Physics, Guglielmo Marconi famed for the invention of wireless communications and radio. The Academy of Italy, known today as "Accademia dei Lincei", holds evidence of this visit to Colombo, including a phtograph in which Marconi and Menotti sit together with their wives and probably the then English Governor.
Unfortunately, Menotti’s health deteriorated rapidly and he died on April 16, 1934 in Colombo, at the age of fifty. The authorities throughout the colony paid great tribute to him. His body was then returned home by ship, welcomed to Venice and transported to Rome, where his brother Ezio organized a ceremony performed with fascist connotations, despite knowing how much his brother paid in life ( in China, Africa, and Ceylon) for not having been a sympathizer of the Regime.
Horta continued living in Rome, preserving Menotti’s relics which unfortunately have largely disappeared.
As Menotti’s great grand-daughter, I like to evoke the coherence of Menotti’s service to Italian interests during his life. He shunned attention seeking behaviour but his adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit added to what his birthright had given him - a constant sense of duty and personal autonomy.