Teodoro Antillí (1883–1923) was an Argentine anarchist and journalist.

Early life and career

Teodoro Antillí was born in

San Pedro, Buenos Aires San Pedro, full name ''Rincón de San Pedro Dávila de los Arrecifes'', is a city and port in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, beside the Paraná River. It is one of five ''localidades'' in the Partido de San Pedro and its administrativ ...

, on July 27, 1883. In his youth, he worked at the city's

civil registry Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events ( births, marriages, and deaths) of its citizens and residents. The resulting repository or database has different names in different countries and even in diffe ...

. As a teenager, he clerked for the local police and left the job at age 21 after becoming involved in

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

. He moved to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and wrote for magazines such as ''Fray Mocho'' and ''Mundo Argentino'', and wrote for the libertarian press. When writing for ''Germinal'' in 1906, he met

Rodolfo González Pacheco Rodolfo González Pacheco (1882–1949) was an Argentine writer, playwright, orator, anarchistic journalist and activist. He was editor of the anarchist newspaper ' (The Torch) and founder of the ''Teatro de Ideas'' (Theatre of Ideas). He died on ...

, who became a lifelong friend. The pair edited ''La Campana Nueva'' the next year. Their anarchist daily ''La Batalla'' was short-lived, starting and ending in 1910 with the

Argentina Centennial The Argentina Centennial was celebrated on May 25, 1910. It was the 100th anniversary of the May Revolution, when viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros was ousted from office and replaced with the Primera Junta, the first national government. Cont ...

's suppression of anarchism, as the pair were arrested and imprisoned in

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital city, capital of Tierra del Fuego Province, Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of 82,615 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, U ...

. Upon their release, Antillí and Pacheco founded the newspaper ''Alberdi'' and, in 1911, the short-lived journal ''El Manifiesto''. While Pacheco was out of the country, Antillí joined the staff of ''La Protesta'' and spent three additional years in prison for an article defending

Simón Radowitzky Simón Radowitzky (10 September or 10 November 1891 – 29 February 1956) was a militant Argentine worker and anarchist. He was one of the best-known prisoners of the penal colony in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, where he was held for the assassin ...

. He left ''La Protesta'' in 1916 and, with Pacheco back in the country, they unsuccessfully attempted to create ''La Protesta Humana''. Instead they created ''La Obra'', which was originally influenced by the

1917 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It ...

but eventually moved away from

Bolshevism Bolshevism (derived from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Leninist and later Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined p ...

and refused an "anarcho-Bolshevik" offer to launch a journal together. ''La Obra'' was suppressed and shuttered during the January 1919 Tragic Week. Their next anarchist daily, ''Tribuna Proletaria'', was overrun by the anarcho-Bolsheviks by its end in March 1919. Antillí and Pacheco founded ''El Libertario'' in 1920 and the anarchist weekly ''La Antorcha'' in 1921. The latter veered towards

insurrectionary anarchism Insurrectionary anarchism is a revolutionary theory and tendency within the anarchist movement that emphasizes insurrection as a revolutionary practice. It is critical of formal organizations such as labor unions and federations that are based on ...

and Antillí was among its most prolific writers. Suffering from illness, Antillí returned to his hometown in 1923 where he died on August 8. He was buried beneath an

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

tree. His unpublished articles continued to be printed in ''La Antorcha'' after his death. In 1924, Pacheco published his articles from the weekly magazine into a posthumous book, ''¡Salud a la Anarquía!''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antillí, Teodoro 1883 births 1923 deaths Journalists from Buenos Aires Argentine anarchists