Daniele Manin (13 May 180422 September 1857) was an Italian patriot, statesman and leader of the Risorgimento in Venice. Many Italian historians consider him to be an important figure in Italian unification. Early and family life Daniele Manin was born Daniele Fonseca in Ramo Astori, Venice, where his birthplace is commemorated by a plaque. His mother Anna Maria Bellotto, an Italian, came from Padua, while his father Pietro Antonio Fonseca (1762–1829) came from a converted family that was originally Jewish: Daniele's grandfather was Samuele Medina, from Verona. Samuele converted to Christianity in 1759 and took the name Manin because Ludovico Manin, the last Doge of Venice, sponsored his conversion. Daniele Manin studied law at Padua and then practised at the bar in Venice, his native city. A man of great learning and a profound jurist, from an early age he held a deep hatred for Austria. Manin's niece was the painter and printmaker Leopoldina Zanetti Borzino. Revolutionary leader A failed attempt by the Bandiera Brothers, Venetians who had served in the Austrian navy against the Neapolitan Bourbons in 1844, was the first event to cause an awakening of Venetian patriotism. In 1847 Manin presented a petition to the Venetian congregation, a powerless consultative assembly tolerated by Austria, informing the emperor of the wants of the nation. He was arrested on a charge of high treason (18 January 1848), but his arrest only served to agitate of the Venetians, who were beginning to appreciate Manin. Two months later, when all of Italy and half of the rest of Europe were in the throes of revolution, the people of Venice forced Count Pallfy (Erdődy Pállfy Alajos gróf), the Austrian governor, to release Manin (17 March). The Austrians soon lost control of the city: the Arsenal was seized by revolutionaries and, under the direction of Manin, a civic guard and a provisional government were instituted. The Austrians withdrew from Venice on 26 March and Manin became president of the re-created Republic of San Marco. He had already been in favour of Italian unity but was not anxious about annexation to Piedmont because he would have liked to enlist French aid. He gave in to the will of the majority of his compatriots and resigned his powers to the Piedmontese commissioners on 7 August. But after the Piedmontese defeat at Custoza, and the armistice in which King Charles Albert abandoned Lombardy and Venetia to