Giovanni Defendi was an Italian revolutionary who fought for the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

, was imprisoned, and after release spent many years as a grocer and anarchist leader in exile in London.

Early years

By his own account, Giovanni Defendi was born on 24 June 1849 in

Casalmaggiore Casalmaggiore ( Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Cremona, Lombardy, Italy, located across the Po River. It was the birthplace of Italian composers Ignazio Donati and Andrea Zani. It became worldwide famous thanks to its ...

, Italy. He became a confectioner. He fought with Garibaldi in the war for Italian independence. On 17 or 18 May 1871 Defendi arrived in Paris after the demobilization of the red shirts, and participated in the Paris Commune. For this, on 27 April 1872 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and was sent to

Belle Île Belle-Île, Belle-Île-en-Mer, or Belle Isle ( br, Ar Gerveur, ; br, label=Old Breton, Guedel) is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the ''département'' of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is from the Quiberon pe ...

. After being released, he moved to London in 1880. On 21 February 1881 the Italian consul described him as 32 years old, almost in height, who had spent eight years imprisoned in a small cell.

Life in exile

Defendi met wife Emilia Tronzio, in London. A native of

Cosenza Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000; the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Province of Cosenza, which has a populati ...

, she had lost her parents in a cholera epidemic and had been adopted by the family of the internationalist

Tito Zanardelli Tito Zanardelli (1848–?) was an Italian journalist and anarchist. At first a proponent of revolution, later he became more moderate and advocated legal means to achieve the goals of the workers. He then retired from politics and spent many y ...

. In the 1870s she was the mistress of

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 ...

. In 1880 a letter was published in the ''Citoyen'' of Paris in which Giovanni Defendi and Emilia Tronzi-Zanardelli announced that on 1 May 1880 they had contracted a ''union libre'', as opposed to a judicial or religious marriage. A similar statement was published in ''

La Plebe La Plebe was an American punk rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in early 2001, the band has been a consistent part of various music scenes ever since, marked notably by multiple tours of Mexico, Europe and the Balkans. History L ...

'' of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

on 2 May 1880. The Defendis opened a delicatessen at 12 Archer Street in the

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

section of London, home to many immigrants. They had six children. Giovanni used to go through the Italian colony selling his produce from a handcart, assisted by his son Enrico. In 1885 Defendi was one of the leaders of the anarchists in London, along with Biagio Poggi and Vito Solieri. In 1896 Defendi was one of three judges on an anarchist court of honor that found Francesco Cini guilty of stealing some money he had collected to help Spanish militants who had been tortured while imprisoned in

Montjuïc Castle Montjuïc Castle ( ca, Castell de Montjuïc, es, Castillo de Montjuich) is an old military fortress, with roots dating back from 1640, built on top of Montjuïc hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It currently serves as a Barcelona municipal faci ...

. His children Enrico and Luigia also became anarchists, and were watched by the police. Defendi opened a grocery at 112 W. High Street in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

. Emilia was the victim of an influenza epidemic in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

References

Sources

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