Gaetano Bresci (; November 10, 1869May 22, 1901) was an Italian-American
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
who assassinated King
Umberto I of Italy
Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900.
Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...
on July 29, 1900. Bresci was the first European
regicide
Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...
not to be executed, as
capital punishment in Italy
The use of capital punishment in Italy has been banned since 1889, with the exception of the period 1926–1947, encompassing the rule of Fascism in Italy and the early restoration of democracy. Before the unification of Italy in 1860, capital pun ...
had been abolished in 1889.
Militancy
Bresci was born on November 10, 1869, at Coiano, in
Prato
Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...
,
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
, and emigrated from Italy to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in his late twenties. In the United States, he made his living as a weaver in
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', July 31, 1900. Accessed May 19, 2008. He became involved with and was later a leading member of an Italian political group called "Gruppo diritti all' esistenza". He was one of the founders of ''La Questione Sociale'', the
Italian language
Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...
anarchist paper published in Paterson.
Bresci had thought of killing Italian
King Umberto I
Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900.
Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...
when he lived in Italy. After immigrating to the United States, he was introduced to anarchist and
propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed (or propaganda by the deed, from the French ) is specific political direct action meant to be exemplary to others and serve as a catalyst for revolution.
It is primarily associated with acts of violence perpetrated by pro ...
Errico Malatesta
Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expelled from ...
. While Bresci was influenced by Ciancabilla and the continued suppression of popular revolt in Italy, he was particularly affected by the 1898
Bava Beccaris massacre
The Bava Beccaris massacre, named after the Italian General Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris, was the repression of widespread food riots in Milan, Italy, on 6–10 May 1898. In Italy the suppression of these demonstrations is also known as ''Fatti di Magg ...
, in which dozens of people were murdered during the Milanese bread riots over the rising price of bread, for which the king awarded a medal to General
Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris
Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris (; 17 March 1831 – 8 April 1924) was an Italian general, especially remembered for his brutal repression of riots in Milan in 1898, known as the Bava Beccaris massacre.
Biography
Fiorenzo Bava Beccaris was born in Fossa ...
.
Assassination
Bresci requested the return of a loan to ''La Questione Sociale'' and with the money he went to Italy. While the king was visiting
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
, on July 29, 1900, Bresci shot him four times with a five-shot
.32 .32 caliber is a size of ammunition, fitted to firearms with a Gauge (bore diameter), bore diameter of .
.32 in caliber variations include:
* .32 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol), a pistol cartridge
* .32-40 Ballard, an American rifle cartridge
* .32 H& ...
revolver
A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...
.
Trial and death
Bresci was captured and put on trial, where he was defended by the anarchist lawyer
Francesco Saverio Merlino
Francesco Saverio Merlino (9 September 1856 – 30 June 1930) was an Italian lawyer, anarchist activist and theorist of libertarian socialism.
Life
Merlino was born on 9 September 1856 in Naples.Santo Stefano Island
Santo Stefano () is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the west coast of Italy, and part of the Pontine Islands. It is roughly circular, with a diameter of less than , and it is located east of the nearby island of Ventotene.
Overview
Like th ...
near
Ventotene
Ventotene (; locally ; la, Pandataria or , from grc, Πανδατερία, Pandatería, or ) is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy. The municipality of ...
, where numerous other anarchists had also been sent over the years. Less than a year later, on May 22, 1901, he was found dead in prison at the age of 31.Bresci Commits Suicide; Murderer of King Humbert Hangs Himself in Prison ''The New York Times'', May 24, 1901 Biographer Arrigo Petacco described the circumstances of Bresci's death as mysterious. While Bresci was reported to have hanged himself, many believed that he had been murdered.
Legacy
Anarchists quickly regarded Bresci as a martyr and raised money to support his widow and two daughters. Bresci's regicide inspired anarchist
Leon Czolgosz
Leon Frank Czolgosz ( , ; May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901) was an American laborer and anarchist who assassinated President William McKinley on September 6, 1901, in Buffalo, New York. The president died on September 14 after his wound became ...
to kill United States President
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
later that year. New York City anarchists congregated as the
Bresci Circle
The Bresci Circle was a group of New York City anarchists remembered for a failed bombing attempt on St. Patrick's Cathedral in 1915, in which two of its members were arrested. The group was named after Gaetano Bresci, a New York anarchist who ...
in his honor. The group, which reached 600 participants in 1914, were involved in numerous examples of
propaganda of the deed
Propaganda of the deed (or propaganda by the deed, from the French ) is specific political direct action meant to be exemplary to others and serve as a catalyst for revolution.
It is primarily associated with acts of violence perpetrated by pro ...
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and attempting to assassinate
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
, the richest person of the ''
fin de siècle
() is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context ...
'' era.
In the 1970s through the 1980s, Tuscan anarchists commissioned a monument to Bresci for his hometown but were blocked by the government. It was erected overnight in
Carrara
Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...
's in 1990.
Vittorio Emanuele III
Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele Ferdinando Maria Gennaro di Savoia; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. He also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia (1936–1941) and ...
commissioned the
Expiatory Chapel of Monza
The Expiatory Chapel in Monza is a monument-chapel built to atone and commemorate the site at which the king Humbert I was murdered on July 29, 1900, by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci. It stands near the entrance to the Royal Villa of Monza on Via ...
to commemorate the place where his father was assassinated.
The Italian underground rap band assalti frontali, known for its political commitment, quotes Bresci in the song Banditi nella sala, with others famous
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
rebels from all around the world. In 2021, an italian
darkwave
Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...
duo named itself GBRESCI after Bresci.
See also
*
List of unsolved deaths
This list of unsolved deaths includes well-known cases where:
* The cause of death could not be officially determined.
* The person's identity could not be established after they were found dead.
* The cause is known, but the manner of death (homi ...