Giosuè Borsi

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Giosuè Borsi
Diana Patterson’s Great Uncle

My ancestor, who fought and died in the First World War, was called Giosuè Borsi. (His name translates as Joshua in English) He was my grandfather’s elder brother. He is still celebrated among Italians as one of the poets of the era who died too young. Most towns in Tuscany have a street named after him.

He was born in Livorno (Leghorn), Italy on the 10th June, 1888 and died 10th November, 1915 in the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo. From his earliest years he manifested literary ability. A poem written to his mother at the age of thirteen has been termed a classic. At fifteen and seventeen he published volumes of poetry, while at twenty he was recognized as a foremost commentator of Dante. At twenty-two he succeeded his father as editor of “Il Nuovo Giornale” of Florence. (My great grandfather owned several Italian national newspapers)

Enlisting at once when Italy entered the war in 1915, in the 125º Infantry Regiment “Spezia” as a Second Lieutenant, Giosuè was sent to the Isonzo front on the 6th October 1915, where he fell, mortally wounded, on the 10th November, while leading his platoon to attack. His body was never recovered.

The Italian Front in the First World War

The Italian Front was a series of battles at the border between the then Austrio-Hungarian Empire and Italy, fought between 1915 and 1918. Italy had entered the war in order to annex the Trieste peninsula and northern Dalmatia, and the territories of present-day Trentino and South Tyrol. Although Italy had hoped to gain the territories with a surprise offensive, the front soon bogged down into trench warfare, similar to the Western Front fought in France, but at high altitudes and with very cold winters.

The front caused the civil population to resettle and several thousands of them died in Italian and Austrian refugee camps of malnutrition and illness. The Italian victory at Vittorio Veneto ended the military operations on the 6 November 1918. The disintegration of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire ensued.

Statistics of the Isonzo Front, 23rd May 1915 – 6th November 1918
Location: Eastern Alps and Venetian Plain

The original exhibition display: Giosue Borsi