Arturo Labriola (; 21 January 1873 – 23 June 1959) was an Italian

revolutionary syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...

and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

politician and journalist.

Life

Early political activity (until 1897)

Labriola was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

on 21 January 1873 to Luigi Labriola, an artisan. While studying

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...

, Arturo Labriola started his political activity. In 1891 he joined the Republican-Socialist University Circle. Between 1892 and 1895, he collaborated on various periodicals: ''Socialismo Popolare'', edited by Carlo Monicelli, ''Rivista Popolare di Politica, Litteratura e Scienze Sociali'', edited by Napoleone Colajanni and '' Critica Sociale'', edited by

Filippo Turati Filippo Turati (; 26 November 1857 – 29 March 1932) was an Italian sociologist, criminologist, poet and socialist politician. Early life Born in Canzo, province of Como, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 1877, and particip ...

. In 1894–1895, Labriola was involved with the '' Fasci Siciliani'' and therefore was suspended for one year from university studies. In 1897, Labriola joined

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

(PSI) and fought in the Greco-Turkish War in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Life in exile (1898–1900)

In May 1898, workers in Milan organized strikes and protests to demonstrate against the government. The riots were brutally repressed: troops fired on demonstrators, and Filippo Turati was arrested, and accused of inspiring the riots. Labriola fled to Geneva in order to elude arrest. There, he taught at

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

and worked with

Vilfredo Pareto Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto (; ; born Wilfried Fritz Pareto; 15 July 1848 – 19 August 1923) was an Italian polymath, whose areas of interest included sociology, civil engineering, economics, political science, and philosophy. He made severa ...

. Labriola was expelled from Switzerland in the same year and moved to Paris. In Paris he met the socialists Georges Sorel, Hubert Lagardelle and Paul Lafargue.

Revolutionary syndicalist period

He returned to Italy in 1900, and in 1902 published a weekly called ''Avanguardia Socialista'' which became the centre of activity for Italian revolutionary syndicalism. From 1910 to 1911 he was one of the leading contributors of '' La Lupa'', a weekly magazine supporting the revolution. He later withdrew his support for revolution, and adopted

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

Reformism Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

, becoming a member of the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

as an independent. Favourable to Italy's participation in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Labriola also served as Minister of Labor in the last of

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the prime minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. He is the longest-serving democratically elected prime minister in Italian history, and the sec ...

's cabinets (1920). An opponent of

Fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

, he had to take exile in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

after

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

came to power, but returned in 1935. In 1946 he was elected member of the Constituent Assembly of Italy as a National Democratic Union candidate. In 1948 he became a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

of the new Republic. As it was confirmed by the former President of the Grand Orient of Italy, he was one of the eight father constituents belonging to the main Italian Masonic organization.

Works

*''La teoria del valore di C. Marx, Studio sul III libro del Capitale'' (1899) *''Riforme e rivoluzione sociale'' (1904, 1906) *''

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

, L'Économiste, Le Socialiste'' (1910) *''Storia di dieci anni'' (1910) *''La guerra di Tripoli e l'opinione socialista'' (1912) *''Spiegazioni a me stesso'' (1945)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labriola, Arturo 1873 births 1959 deaths 19th-century Neapolitan people Italian Socialist Party politicians Ministers of labour of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXIV of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXV of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXVI of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXVII of the Kingdom of Italy Members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy Senators of Legislature I of Italy Politicians of Campania Italian syndicalists 20th-century Italian journalists Italian male journalists Italian anti-fascists Italian Aventinian secessionists Italian Freemasons