Born in Montevideo, he was named in honour of Nicola Ricciotti [it] who had been executed during the failed expedition of the Bandiera Brothers against the Kingdom of Naples. He spent much of his youth in Nice, Caprera and England.

In 1866, alongside his father, he took part in the Battle of Bezzecca (1866) and the Battle of Mentana (1867); in 1870, during his father's expedition in support to France during the Franco-Prussian War, he fought for the Army of the Vosges, during which he occupied Châtillon and, at Pouilly, during the Battle of Dijon, captured the sole Prussian flag lost during the war.

After a failed attempt to create market enterprises in America and Australia, he was a deputy in the Italian Parliament from 1887 to 1890. In the Turkish-Greek War in 1897, he fought with the Greek Army against the Ottomans with other Garibaldines. It was reported that in 1900 during the Boer War, he placed his sword at the disposal of the British Government. His offer was declined.^[1]

Of his six sons, five including Peppino (Giuseppe II.,1879–1950) and Ezio Garibaldi [it] were soldiers in World War I. Two of them died in the Argonne offensives: Bruno (1889-1914) and Costante (1892-1915). He also had a daughter, Anita, who died in 1962.

Ricciotti Garibaldi died in Riofreddo in 1924.

• Garibaldi family (in French)
• Newspaper clippings about Ricciotti Garibaldi in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW