Ippolito Nievo

Nievo studied law at the University of Padua, but upon graduating, he refused to join his father's profession as it would imply submission to the Austrian government.

In 1860 he fought with Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand, who, after having defeated the Bourbon army in Sicily and Southern Italy, gave those regions to the King of Sardinia Victor Emmanuel II.

In this novel, Nievo's ship was secretly blown up by the fictional protagonist Simonini in order to destroy the financial documents.

There are similarities between W. M. Thackeray's earlier novel The History of Henry Esmond and Confessions of an Italian, both in the fundamental structure of the plot, in the psychological outlines of the main characters, in frequent episodes and in the use of metaphors.

His political engagement was reflected in two essays: Venezia e la libertà d'Italia (1860) and Frammento sulla rivoluzione nazionale (published 1929).