The Italian Behind America’s Most Famous Words

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Filippo Mazzei (1730–1816) was a Tuscan-born physician, wine merchant, and political philosopher who became one of Thomas Jefferson's closest friends in Virginia — and who wrote the words Jefferson later adapted into “all men are created equal.” Born in Poggio a Caiano, a small town 20 kilometres northwest of Florence, he is one of the most overlooked figures in both Italian and American history.

The Man Who Was Written Out of History

Mazzei trained as a surgeon in Florence before moving to London, where he became a successful importer of Italian wines and olive oil. It was there, in the early 1770s, that he met Benjamin Franklin, then serving as a colonial agent for the American cause. Franklin urged him to cross the Atlantic and introduce Italian viticulture to Virginia's fertile Piedmont soil.

In 1773, Mazzei arrived in Virginia with a party of around 20 Italian vine-dressers and a shipment of vines from Tuscany. He purchased a 193-hectare (477-acre) farm adjacent to Jefferson's Monticello estate and named it Colle — the Italian word for hill.

Jefferson, fascinated by agriculture, philosophy, and political theory, became an immediate and close friend. Their two estates shared a boundary. They shared dinners, ideas, and a conviction that the old order of European monarchy needed to be dismantled.

The Phrase That Changed a Nation

In 1774 — a full two years before Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence — Mazzei wrote a political pamphlet in Italian arguing for universal human equality. His exact words: “tutti gli uomini sono di natura egualmente liberi e independenti” — all men are by nature equally free and independent.

Jefferson, who had taught himself Italian expressly to read Tuscan literature in the original, encountered these ideas through Mazzei directly. When he came to write the Declaration of Independence in June 1776, the phrase re-emerged: “all men are created equal.” Historians at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello have long documented this connection, noting Jefferson's own correspondence acknowledging Mazzei's philosophical influence.

Mazzei's pamphlet predated the Declaration by at least 18 months. His name does not appear in most American history textbooks. The European Enlightenment philosophers who shaped Jefferson's thinking — Locke, Montesquieu — are well cited. Mazzei, the Tuscan neighbour who may have supplied the most famous sentence in American history, is not.

A Friendship Built on Philosophy and Wine

The correspondence between Mazzei and Jefferson runs to dozens of letters spanning more than 40 years. Jefferson called him “our ancient friend and zealous whig.” When Mazzei returned to Europe in 1779 as a Virginia state agent — tasked with raising financial and political support from European courts for the American Revolution — Jefferson arranged his credentials and contacts personally.

In one well-known letter from 1796, Jefferson wrote candidly to Mazzei about American politics in terms so frank that, when the letter was later leaked and published in Paris, it caused a political storm in the United States. Jefferson had trusted Mazzei with his most honest thoughts. That trust, sustained across decades and an ocean, speaks to the depth of their friendship.

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Mazzei eventually settled back in Tuscany after years travelling through France and Poland on diplomatic business. He spent his final decades in Pisa, where he died in 1816 at the age of 85. His four-volume memoir, written in Italian, remains one of the most vivid first-hand accounts of revolutionary America ever recorded by a European witness.

The Tuscan Town He Left Behind

Poggio a Caiano today is a quiet comune of about 10,000 residents, best known for the Villa Medicea di Poggio a Caiano — a magnificent Renaissance villa commissioned by Lorenzo de' Medici in 1485 and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the wider Medici Villas collection.

The town sits 12 kilometres from Pistoia and is easy to reach on a day trip from Florence. A street bears Mazzei's name, and local civic authorities have placed historical markers acknowledging his role in American history. For most visitors passing through Tuscany, it remains a complete surprise.

If you are tracing Italian heritage in Tuscany, Poggio a Caiano deserves an afternoon. The Medici villa alone is worth the journey — grand rooms, frescoed ceilings, and the kind of Renaissance stillness that reminds you how much of Western civilisation was shaped in this particular stretch of countryside. Knowing that the man who may have inspired Jefferson grew up in its shadow adds a layer that few guidebooks mention. Our guide to tracing your family heritage in Tuscany has more on planning a visit to the region.

Why Italian-Americans Reclaim His Story Today

On the 250th anniversary of American independence in 2026, an estimated 17 million Americans claim Italian ancestry, with the broader Italian-American community — counting generational heritage — put at closer to 80 million. Most trace roots to Sicily, Calabria, and Campania, the southern regions that sent millions to America between 1880 and 1924.

Mazzei came not from the impoverished south, but from the Tuscan heart of the Renaissance. He arrived not as a refugee fleeing hardship, but as an educated, curious man drawn by the excitement of a new world being built on Enlightenment ideas. His story reminds Italian-Americans that Italy's contribution to the United States did not begin with the great emigration waves of the late 19th century. It began earlier, and at the highest levels.

The best time to explore this part of Tuscany is spring (April to May) or early autumn (September to October), when the countryside around Poggio a Caiano is at its most beautiful and Florence is not overwhelmed with summer crowds. Our month-by-month guide to visiting Italy covers when each region is at its finest.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Filippo Mazzei and why does he matter to American history?

Filippo Mazzei (1730–1816) was a Tuscan-born physician and political philosopher who settled near Thomas Jefferson's Monticello estate in Virginia in 1773. He wrote the phrase “all men are by nature equally free and independent” in 1774 — two years before Jefferson adapted it into “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence. Despite this, his name rarely appears in mainstream American history.

Where was Filippo Mazzei born and can you visit his birthplace?

Mazzei was born on 25 December 1730 in Poggio a Caiano, a small town about 20 kilometres northwest of Florence in Tuscany. The town is home to the UNESCO-listed Villa Medicea di Poggio a Caiano, built in 1485, and a street named in his honour. It makes a rewarding half-day visit on any Florence-to-Pistoia itinerary.

What is the best time to visit Poggio a Caiano and Tuscany?

Spring (April to May) and early autumn (September to October) are ideal for visiting Tuscany. Temperatures are mild, the countryside is in full colour, and the roads are far less congested than in midsummer. Poggio a Caiano is a quiet town year-round, but the Villa Medicea gardens are at their finest in spring.

How did Filippo Mazzei come to know Thomas Jefferson?

Mazzei met Benjamin Franklin in London in the early 1770s, who encouraged him to move to Virginia. He purchased farmland directly adjacent to Jefferson's Monticello estate in 1773, and the two men became close friends and neighbours. They corresponded for over 40 years on topics ranging from agriculture and philosophy to American and European politics.

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