The Reverend Alessandro Gavazzi | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1809-03-21)21 March 1809 |
| Died | 9 January 1889(1889-01-09) (aged 79) |
Alessandro Gavazzi (21 March 1809 – 9 January 1889) was anItalian Protestant preacher and patriot. Born aCatholic, he at first became a monk and attached himself to theBarnabites atNaples, where he afterwards acted as professor of rhetoric.[1] He later left the Church and became known as a provocative speakeragainst Catholicism, touringEurope and theUnited States. Protests against him broke out inCanada in 1853, causing numerous deaths in theGavazzi Riots.[2][3]
In 1840, having already expressedliberal views, he was removed to Rome to fill a subordinate position. Leaving his own country after the capture of Rome by the French, he carried on a vigorous campaign against priests andJesuits in England, Scotland and North America, partly by means of a periodical, theGavazzi Free Word.
While in England he gradually went over (1855) to the Evangelical church, and became head and organizer of the ItalianProtestants in London. Returning to Italy in 1860, he served as army-chaplain withGiuseppe Garibaldi. In 1870 he became head of the Free Church (Chiesa libera) of Italy, united the scattered Congregations into the Unione delle Chiese libere in Italia, and in 1875 founded in Rome the theological college of the Free Church, in which he himself taught dogmatics, apologetics and polemics. He died in Rome on 9 January 1889, aged 79.[1]
Among his publications areNo Union with Rome (1871);The Priest in Absolution (1877);My Recollections of the Last Four Popes, etc.,in answer to Cardinal Wiseman (1858);Orations, 2 decades (1851).[1]
In the spring of 1853, Gavazzi visited North America.Gavazzi Riots were disturbances created inQuebec on 6 June 1853, and inMontreal, on 9 June, by mobs which attacked halls in which Gavazzi was lecturing. His lectures at Quebec and Montreal were stronglyanti-Catholic; and at both places the soldiers had to be called out to restore order. At Montreal, 10 lives were lost. The riots also caused political repercussions.[4]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gavazzi, Alessandro".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 538.
