(Jessie Jane Meriton White)

Nickname Miss Uragano (Miss Hurricane) by Italians

Writer, translator, propagandist, lecturer.

9 May 1832 – 5 March 1906

Education

Private school in Portsmouth then Reading and London.

1849 Enrolled in a progressive school in Birmingham.

1851 Studied at the Sorbonne.

1852 & 1854 Studied philosophy in Paris with Hugues Felicité Robert de Lamennais.

Some Key Achievements and Interests

From an early age made a living from giving private lessons and writing entries for the Biographical Magazine and stories for Eliza Cook’s Journal. 

1854 Met Garibaldi and started to devote herself to the cause of Italian independence.  Believing that she could most usefully offer medical support, she applied, unsuccessfully, to medical schools and hospitals to study medicine.

Worked with Giuseppe Mazzini in London and followed him to Italy in 1857. 

Wrote articles on Italy for the The Daily News and other papers and raised funds for the Italian cause. Toured England, Scotland and America.

1860 Joined Garibaldi in his Sicilian campaign working as a nurse and becoming known as ‘Garibaldi’s Englishwoman’.

In anti-Prussian campaign worked as Inspectress of Ambulances. 

After unification, settled in Italy and researched and wrote reports on social issues in Italy eg poverty, child labour in mines,  

Her research into ‘pellagra’, a disease caused by lack of protein and vitamin B, showed how simple supplements could reduce the effects of the disease.

1866 – 1906 was Italian correspondent for The Nation. 

Wrote prolifically and taught to earn a living during the final years of her life.

Issues

Mother died when she was two. Her father remarried quickly. 

1855 Applied to study medicine but refused because she was a woman. 

Listen and read:

• her letter to Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon regarding her attempts to obtain a medical education.
• her correspondence with different hospitals
• her letters to and from the University of London

here: Women in Medicine – Pascal Theatre Company (pascal-theatre.com)

Was arrested on different occasions in Italy because of her activities. At times risked her life for her cause.

Her friendship with the Brownings, who taught her much about Italian politics, broke down when her views became more controversial with her support of Mazzini. 

Nursed her husband who suffered from and died of cancer. On his death in 1883 she had to earn a living from her writing having little money to draw on.

Connection to Bloomsbury

Frequented the British Museum Reading Room where she networked with women.

Female Networks

Emma Roberts, Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Writing included newspaper articles for the British, Italian and American press, biographies of Italian heroes and research papers. 

1856 transl of manuscript by Felice Orsini with the addition of an introduction and published as The Austrian Dungeons in Italy. 

1866 Dellla Vita di Giuseppe Mazzini 

1877 report Las miseria in Napoli 

1884 Garibaldi et son temps

1894 Le miniere di Zolfo in Sicilia (In Sicilian Sulphur Mines)

1909 Published posthumously The Birth of Modern Italy 

Legacy

1916 Florence a memorial places on the wall of her last home 

Further reading

Jessie White Mario. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_White_Mario

Mario, Jessie Jane Meriton White. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-59924?rskey=3sraMl&result=1

The Brownings’ Correspondence: Jessie White Mario. https://www.browningscorrespondence.com/biographical-sketches/?nameId=1129