The Princess Who Brandished the Flag

Free, noble, wealthy, charming, and profoundly nonconformist, Cristina Trivulzio di Belgiojoso chose to rewrite her own destiny by defying laws, authority, and convention. Her life was an unstoppable sequence of bold gestures: from an exiled princess, accused of high treason by the Austrian government, she became a revolutionary heroine. In 1848, she chartered a steamship and led a battalion of volunteers to Milan during the revolt. In 1849, she was the director of ambulances and the founder of twelve hospitals during the Roman Republic. A fugitive, she ventured to the East to establish an agricultural colony for Italian exiles.

Her life is worthy of a film. In poor health, Cristina suffers from epileptic seizures and asthma; at just sixteen, she marries Prince Emilio Barbiano di Belgiojoso, but the marriage quickly proves unhappy. When her husband proposes the unacceptable—cohabiting with his new lover—Cristina rebels, leaves Milan, and radically changes her life.

The golden exile and the fiery salons

Under police surveillance for her patriotic associations, in 1833 the Habsburg government confiscated her immense fortune, denouncing her for high treason. Exile became her new home. After a brief stay in Switzerland, she settled in Paris, the intellectual capital of Europe. There, she frequented the salons of key figures such as General La Fayette and Juliette Récamier, but soon founded her own: a cosmopolitan circle that became a hub of artists, politicians, and intellectuals. Imagine Hugo, de Musset, Chopin, Bellini, Rossini, Tommaseo, and Guizot discussing and creating…

Renowned, and at the same time envied, for her many romantic adventures, in 1838 she gave birth to her only daughter, Maria, out of wedlock, once again demonstrating her rejection of social norms. She fought her battle in the newspapers: in Paris, she founded the "Gazzetta italiana" (later the "Rivista italiana"), followed by the anti-Austrian "Ausonio" and, in 1848, "Il Crociato." Hers was an unstoppable stream of pamphlets, writings, and publications.

The heroine of the camp: from caring for the wounded to fighting for rights

In 1847 he started travelling again, establishing relationships with the major exponents of the Risorgimento: meet Cavour, Cesare Balbo, Nicolò Tommaseo, Giuseppe Montanelli and the same Carlo AlbertoWhen the Five Days of War broke out in Milan, Cristina was in Naples. Her response was immediate and worthy of a commander in chief: without hesitation, she chartered a steamship, recruited a battalion, and set sail for Milan. On April 6, she entered the rebel city, waving a tricolor, at the head of her column of 200 volunteers. The city was temporarily liberated, but just four months later, on August 6, 1848, the Austrians regained control.

But her most incredible feat occurred during the defense of the Roman Republic the following year. Here, with the help of other pioneers like Margaret Fuller and Enrichetta Di Lorenzo, she founded the Committee for the Relief of the Wounded. Cristina became the director of ambulances. In a couple of days, this handful of women, driven by a free and unstoppable spirit, set up twelve military hospitals. A logistical and human feat that defined the essence of her front-line activism. When French troops entered Rome, Cristina was forced to flee again. Her adventurous spirit led her to the East, where she purchased a huge estate, dreaming of transforming it into a farming colony for Italian exiles.

IMAGE OF THE EXHIBITION “ANITA AND THE OTHERS” (2022) AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF RISORGIMENTO ITALIAN. Portrait of Cristina Barbiano di Belgiojoso d'Este Trivulzio. Painter: Heinrich Lehmann, 1855, oil on canvas. Provenance: Masino Castle and Park, Caravino (FAI Italian Environment Fund)

The last years and the legacy

Finally, in 1855, having freed her assets from seizure, she was able to return to her homeland, after a short stay in France in 1853. Friend of Cavour e Carlo After the proclamation of unification, Cattaneo retired from active politics, living between Milan, Locate, and Lake Como. Cristina, beloved by many but despised by just as many for her emancipatory nature, died at the age of 63, on July 5, 1871, in Locate.

Today, her memory lives on not only in history books, but in Piazza Belgioioso in Milan, home to the city's first statue dedicated to a woman. She herself understood the weight of her preparatory mission, writing in her manifesto: «May the happy and honored women of times to come occasionally turn their thoughts to the pains and humiliations of the women who preceded them in life, and remember with some gratitude the names of those who opened and prepared the way for them to a happiness never before enjoyed, perhaps only barely dreamed of» (On the Current State of Women and Their Future, 1866)

The cover image was created with the support of artificial intelligence for creative and informative purposes