Romolo Griffini

Romolo Griffini (26 May 1825 – 9 January 1888) was a Milanese physician, social reformer and patriot-activist. He was also, at various stages in his career, a newspaper journalist-editor

Patriotic aspirations, in the context of the time and place, involved the Risorgimento goals of removing the Austrian military occupation from northern Italy and creating a political union in the region south of the Alps which might present a politically progressive and militarily more formidable counter-weight to the imperial ambitions of Austria and France.

Life Provenance and early years Romolo Griffini was born in Milan, in the fashionable (then as now) central district of the Via Monte Napoleone. He was one of the four recorded sons of Dr. Domenico Griffini by his marriage to Giovanna Vago. He grew up in Milan, at a young age becoming part of the circle of aristocratic and haut-bourgeois youths that formed a group around Cesare Correnti. He was one of those, together with Emilio Visconti Venosta and Antonio Colombo who in December 1847 got together, under Correnti's leadership, to produce the "Nipote del Vesta Verde", an "almanac" promoting the patriotic vision. Targeted at a mass audience, the almanac dealt with popular issues such as Kindergartens for infants and mutual aid societies, but it also featured economic debate, and it did not hesitate to give advice on hygiene, a topic which presumably was championed by Griffini, the medical student in the production team. It is a mark of the almanac's success popularity that it became an annual publication, the final edition being that for 1859. A few days before the Austrian army came back, publication of "Voce del popolo" was suspended on 29 July 1848.

Middle years Shortly after that Griffini obtained a post as a medical surgeon at Milan's main hospital, which became the launching pad for a distinguished medical career. In 1850 he became an assistant at the Eye clinic. In 1853–54 he was head of the Petechia department and in 1855 he became director of the associated department treating cholera patients. He became a senior doctor at the main hospital at the start of 1856. He was a co-founder of "Crepusculo" (literally: Dusk), a publication which helped to keep the flag of patriotism alive in Lombardy during the long run up to 1859, and to which he regularly contributed articles on medical and social issues. He also used "Crepusculo" to launch an initiative to address the pressing issue of abandoned infants, calling for the creation of shelters for infants in order to keep them in families and remove any criminal propensity to infanticide (per "conservare i bambini nelle famiglie e togliere ogni spinta criminosa agli infanticidi"). There was a perception that the number of infants abandoned was increasing uncontrollably. The tradition whereby new-born infants could be left anonymously at the "wheel" in order to spare the mothers of illegitimate infants the trauma of stigma and social ostracism was being abused, according to Griffini: others agreed. For Griffini, many of the abandoned infants were left simply because their mothers – even where respectably married – were poor, and believed their children would be better provided for by the orphanage. For Griffini, a better solution would be to persuade the mothers of legitimate infants to keep their children within their own families, even where doing so might require some level of financial support from the authorities. Griffini saw to the removal of the "wheel" outside the Milan city orphanage on 1 July 1868, but that was to some extent symbolic of a more wide-ranging reform to regulate the orphanage and public policy on pregnancy. Each orphanage should have an acceptance office to ascertain the reason for each infant abandonment and to provide cash for parents deemed appropriately needy. Regulations were introduced to try and address the conflicting outcomes resulting from the activities of charitable institutions dealing with the sensitive issues involved. By the time came for the implementation of many of his reforms Griffini was on the brink of retirement, but the matter was taken forward under the more than competent leadership of the advisor to the "Hospitals Institute", the obstetrician Edoardo Porro.

Final years Poor health forced Griffini to retire in 1884. He withdrew to Varese where he lived in relative seclusion. He remained in contact with his orphanages project, however, continuing to work on detailed proposals and urging, in his letters, that the foundlings and their poor mothers should not be forgotten.

Rudolfo Griffini died at Varese at the start of 1888. His body was returned to Milan for burial in the "Monumental Cemetery".