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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 necessar ...
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 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 ...
,
Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...
, 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
in his late twenties. In the United States, he made his living as a weaver in
Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest city in and the county seat of Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey."ASSASSIN'S LOT FELL UPON ANARCHIST HERE; Gaetano Bresci, the King's Murderer, Lived in Paterson. WAS IN AMERICA SIX YEARS His Identity Established, and His Membership in an Italian Anarchistic Group in the New Jersey Town."
''
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 8 ...
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 ...
advocate
Giuseppe Ciancabilla Giuseppe Ciancabilla was one of the important figures of the anarchist movement who immigrated to the United States in the late 19th century, along with F. Saverio Merlino, Pietro Gori, Carlo Tresca, and Luigi Galleani. Life According to histor ...
via the anarchist organizer
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 Mag ...
, 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, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Mo ...
, on July 29, 1900, Bresci shot him four times with a five-shot .32
revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that has at least one gun barrel, barrel and uses a revolving cylinder (firearms), cylinder containing multiple chamber (firearms), chambers (each holding a single ...
.


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 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 ...
, 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 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 t ...
later that year. New York City anarchists congregated as the Bresci Circle 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 ...
, including bombing the St. Patrick's Cathedral in
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, 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 west-northwest of Florence. Its mot ...
'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 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 ...


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bresci, Gaetano 19th-century Italian criminals 1869 births 1901 deaths 1901 suicides Anarchist assassins Illegalists Italian anarchists Italian assassins Italian emigrants to the United States Italian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Italian people convicted of murder Italian people who died in prison custody Italian regicides Italian revolutionaries People convicted of murder by Italy People from Paterson, New Jersey People from the Province of Prato Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Italy Prisoners who died in Italian detention Regicides Unsolved deaths