Sea Captain

Angelo Pesante was born in Sanremo on 1st November 1799 from Alessandro, long time captain and Anna Giordano.

Among the men of the sea of Sanremo he was the most illustrious and the best known. He went down in history for being the first sea captain with whom Giuseppe Garibaldi sailed aboard the brig Costanza used for the Black Sea grain traffic. Garibaldi himself, in his memories, remembers him with deferential affection as the best captain he had ever known. Between the Hero of the Two Worlds and the Heavy Captain a long lasting correspondence was established.

In 1848 he welcomed in his house in Sanremo, Anita while he was passing through Sanremo to go to Nice and wrote two letters to Garibaldi also sending him a specific febrifuge so that he could free himself from the Third World fever.
A few days later Garibaldi answered "Nice 21 Sept. 1948. My Captain, I received the Preg.me vostre of 17-20. I thank you for the specific febrifuge...I will do my best to pass through Sanremo.... I have a longing, and a heartfelt desire to give you a hug, my good friend. Present my greetings to your family, to the French Consul and other friends and believe that he will always be your most grateful G. Garibaldi".
Captain Pesante had his 2nd Class licence in 1825, when he had already been in command of the Costanza for a year until the shipwreck in 1835, then he took the 1st Class licence and sailed until 1845 always towards the Black Sea.

It distinguished itself during the Merola shipwreck in Marseille, saving several shipwrecked people. He was vice-consul of Spain in Sanremo and received numerous awards in Gold and Honour Medals, until he had lost another of his property in the Black Sea ice and destiny changed for him, forcing him to live in financial straits.

He died in Sanremo on 3rd April 1852.

He was buried in the cemetery of the Mouth where you can still read a tombstone faded by time. On the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth the Municipality of Sanremo wanted to honour his memory by walling up a plaque at the beginning of the street named after him between via Manzoni and via XX Settembre.

(source : Marco Mauro)