Philip Mazzei

Philip Mazzei c.1790

Filippo Mazzei (Italian pronunciation: [matˈtsei], but sometimes erroneously cited with the name of Philip Mazzie; December 25, 1730 – March 19, 1816) was an Italian physician. A close friend of Thomas Jefferson, Mazzei acted as an agent to purchase arms for Virginia during the American Revolutionary War.

Biography

Mazzei was born Filippo Mazzei in Poggio a Caiano in Tuscany as a son of Domenico and Elisabetta.[1] He studied medicine in Florence and practiced in Italy and the Middle East for several years before moving to London in 1755 to take up a mercantile career as an importer. In London he worked as a teacher of Italian language.[2] While in London he met the Americans Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. While doing work for Franklin, Mazzei shared his idea of importing Tuscan products, wine and olive trees, to the New World. They convinced him to undertake his next venture.

On September 2, 1773 Mazzei boarded a ship from Livorno to Virginia bringing with him plants, seeds, silkworms, and 10 farmers from Luca. While visiting Jefferson at his estate, the two became good friends and Jefferson gave Mazzei a large allotment of land for an experimental plantation.Mazzei and Jefferson started what became the first commercial vineyard in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They shared an interest in politics and libertarian values, and maintained an active correspondence for the rest of Mazzei's life.

In 1779 Mazzei returned to Italy as a secret agent for the state of Virginia. He purchased and shipped arms to them until 1783. After briefly visiting the United States again in 1785, Mazzei travelled throughout Europe promoting Republican ideals. He wrote a political history of the American Revolution, 'Recherches historiques et politiques sur les Etats-Unis de l'Amerique septentrionale", and published it in Paris in 1788. After its publication Mazzei became an unofficial roving ambassador in Europe for American ideas and institutions.

While in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth he became attached as a Privy Councilor at the court of King Stanislaus II. There he became acquainted with Polish liberal and constitutional thought, like the works of Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki and ideas of Golden Freedoms and Great Sejm. King Stanislaus II appointed Mazzei to be Poland's representative in Paris, where he again met Jefferson.

After Poland was partitioned between Russia and Prussia in 1795, Mazzei, along with the rest of the Polish court, was given a pension by the Russian crown. He later spent more time in France, becoming active in the politics of the French Revolution under the Directorate. When Napoleon overthrew that government Mazzei returned to Pisa, Italy. He died there in 1816. After his death the remainder of his family returned to the United States at the urging of Thomas Jefferson. They settled in Massachusetts and Virginia. Mazzei's daughter married a nephew of John Adams.

He was buried at the Pisa Suburbano Cemetery in Pisa.[3]

Mazzei letter

Many biographers believe Jefferson and Washington had a falling out over a letter Jefferson sent to Mazzei in Italy, which called Washington's administration "Anglican, monarchical, and aristocratical" as England and claimed that Washington had appointed as military officers "all timid men that prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty ... [I]t would give you a fever were I to name to you the apostates who have gone over to these heresies, men who were Samsons in the field and Solomons in the council, but who have had their heads shorn by the harlot England." The letter was eventually published overseas and then re-translated back into English by Noah Webster and published in the United States.[4]

This contribution was acknowledged by John F. Kennedy in his book A Nation of Immigrants, in which he states that:[5]

The great doctrine 'All men are created equal'[6][7] and incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, was paraphrased from the writing of Philip Mazzei, an Italian-born patriot and pamphleteer, who was a close friend of Jefferson. A few alleged scholars try to discredit Mazzei as the creator of this statement and idea, saying that "there is no mention of it anywhere until after the Declaration was published". This phrase appears in Italian in Mazzei's own hand, written in Italian, several years prior to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Mazzei and Jefferson often exchanged ideas about true liberty and freedom. No one man can take complete credit for the ideals of American democracy.

Legacy

A 40-cent United States airmail stamp was issued in 1980 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Mazzei's birth.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Łukaszewicz, Witold (1948). "Filippo Mazzei (1730-1816). Zarys biograficzny". Kwartalnik Historyczny (3–4): 304. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Łukaszewicz, Witold (1948). "Filippo Mazzei (1730–1816). Zarys biograficzny". Kwartalnik Historyczny (3–4): 305. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Philip Mazzei at Find a Grave
  4. ↑ "Jefferson's Letter to Philip Mazzei", The Papers of Thomas Jefferson], princeton.edu; accessed October 21, 2014.
  5. ↑ Kennedy, John F. A Nation of Immigrants, pp. 15–16
  6. ↑ Philip Mazzei, The Virginia Gazette, 1774. Translated by a friend and neighbor, Thomas Jefferson:
    Tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi e indipendenti. Quest'eguaglianza è necessaria per costituire un governo libero. Bisogna che ognuno sia uguale all'altro nel diritto naturale.
    All men are by nature equally free and independent. Such equality is necessary in order to create a free government.
    All men must be equal to each other in natural law
  7. ↑ According to Joint Resolution 175 of the 103rd Congress: the phrase in the Declaration of Independence 'All men are created equal', was suggested by the Italian patriot and immigrant Philip Mazzei.
  8. ↑ http://www.usstampgallery.com/view.php?id=5842d61e7d7b7bcb645c0c16b0dbe3c62b457ba0

Mazzei's writings

In French

In Italian

Sources

In English

  • Vol. I – Virginia's Agent during the American Revolution, XLVIII, 585 pp.;
  • Vol. II – Agent for the King of Poland during the French Revolution, 802 pp.;
  • Vol. III – World Citizen, 623 pp.
Cassa di Risparmi e Depositi, Prato, 1983.

In Italian

  • Vol.I: 1765–1788. Agente di Virginia durante la rivoluzione americana; pp. XLVII–582
  • Vol.II:1788–1791. Agente del Re di Polonia durante la Rivoluzione Francese; pp. XVI–703, XVII–633
  • Vol.III: 1792–1816. Cittadino del Mondo; pp. XVII–633
Prato, 1984, Ediz.del Palazzo per Cassa di Risparmi e Depositi di Prato.

Others books about Mazzei

In English

In Italian

External links

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