In 1837, when Giacomo Leopardi received a letter from Luigi de Sinner, in which his Swiss friend informed him that the first unabridged version of the Canti in German had been published, the poet was most probably unaware that in the preface the translator compared him to Adam Mickiewicz. What the two great romantic poets had in common was the love of the country and the idea of fighting for independence. The article aims to present this affinity, underlined by the first German translator of their works in 1837, but so far neglected by the critics.