After studying at the singing school in Genoa, the staunch liberal became a singer in Turin in 1847, where he composed approximately ten nationalistic lyrics for the freedom of Italy and collected donations for Giuseppe Garibaldi. Totally untalented as a businessman, he died impoverished in Genoa in 1885, having made no profit from his famous songs. He is buried in the monumental cemetery of Staglieno near Genoa, next to the tomb of the Italian independence fighter Giuseppe Mazzini.
Source: Wikipedia
Note: Translated from the German version of Wikipedia into English.
