Gennaro Rubino
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Gennaro Rubino (November 23, 1859Milillo, 90. – March 14, 1918; also spelled Rubini) was an Italian
anarchist 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 ...
who unsuccessfully tried to assassinate King Leopold II of
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.


Early life

Rubino was born in Bitonto, during the period of Italian unification. While serving in the Italian army as a young man, Rubino was condemned to five years' detention for writing a subversive newspaper article. In 1898, he was arrested again during bread riots in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
. Rather than serving a lengthy prison sentence, Rubino fled the country. He first took up residence in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
and then moved to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. He was unable to find work, however, until offered assistance by the Italian Embassy. He was then employed by the Italian Secret Service to spy on anarchist organizations in London. He was dismissed from the job, however, once embassy officials discovered that he sympathized with the anarchists. In May 1902, Rubino's employment with the Italian Secret Service was uncovered, and he was denounced by the international anarchist press as a spy. Evidently, Rubino then resolved to commit an assassination in order to prove his allegiance to the anarchist cause. As he wrote in a letter to his former comrades, "perhaps tomorrow or after, I will be able to prove my rebellion in a manner more consistent with my and your aspirations." According to later police interrogations, he considered killing King Edward VII, but decided against it due to the strong feeling of the English people in favour of the monarchy. Instead he chose King Leopold II of Belgium.


Assassination attempt

In late October, 1902, Rubino relocated to
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
. On the morning of November 15, 1902, King Leopold was returning from a ceremony in memory of his recently deceased wife, Marie Henriette. The royal cortege left the cathedral. In the first carriage Prince Albert was seated with the king, and in the second carriage princess Elisabeth was seated. Rubino took a revolver and waited for the King's procession among a crowd on the Rue Royale in front of the Bank of Brussels. After Leopold's carriage passed, Rubino drew his gun and fired three shots at the third carriage. In this carriage Count Charles John d'Oultremont, the Grand Marshal of the Royal court was seated, and he received broken glass in his face. The carriages didn't stop and continued to the palace. When he arrived in the royal palace, the Grand Marshal was questioned by officials. His uniform was covered in broken glass. The king and members of the royal family were told that they had escaped an assassination attempt. The king asked if anybody had been hurt and then continued his day. All three shots missed, although one smashed the window of a carriage of Count Charles d'Oultremont, who was almost killed. The king was saved by M. J. Bernard from Bar-le-duc who successfully disarmed Rubino. Paul van den Bosch, from Liege, caught Rubino by his throat and handed him to the police. The police put Rubino in a cab, which was immediately surrounded by an angry mob. The police had great difficulty in forcing their way through the crowd, which shouted alternately, "Kill him!" and "Long live the King!" At the police station, Rubino was searched and found to be carrying a package of ball cartridges and picture postcards bearing portraits of King Leopold, Prince Albert, and Princess Elisabeth. Rubino said he procured the cards so he would be able to recognize the members of the royal family. He also said he did not regret his act and would have fired "at the King of Italy as readily as at the King of Belgium, because monarchs are tyrants who cause the misery of their peoples." He also asserted that he had no accomplices, although several people who were near Rubino when he fired the revolver asserted that he was accompanied by another man who escaped among the crowd. Following the attempted assassination, anarchists further condemned Rubino as an agent provocateur, with some even speculating that the entire event was staged in order to justify subsequent police crackdowns against European anarchists. This speculation was fueled by early reports that the unfired cartridges left in Rubino's revolver were blanks. This was contradicted by later reports that Rubino's revolver was never found by the police.


Trial and imprisonment

After the attempt he was sent to the prison of Saint Gilles, where he received three glasses of beer for dinner and some bread. He was questioned by the Examining magistrate M. J. Count d'Oultremont. Rubino chose Émile Royer, a socialist who had previously defended the anarchist Jules Moineau, as his lawyer. There was an issue: because the grand Marshall of the royal Court count Charles d'Oultremont was related to Examining magistrate M. J. d'Oultremont, he had to be replaced by Mr. van Nerom to respect a neutral examination. Rubino stood trial in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
in February 1903. At the trial Rubino was unrepentant and even boastful, declaring that he had hoped to be able to kill the King, Prince Albert, and a few of the clergy. During the trial Rubino often expounded
anarchist 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 ...
doctrines which, he said, recognized neither laws nor judges. The jury found Rubino guilty and the court then sentenced him to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
.


Death

Rubino died on March 14, 1918, in Leuven Centraal, the main prison of
Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
, Belgium.Milillo, 97.


Notes and references


Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubino, Gennaro 1859 births 1918 deaths 1902 crimes in Belgium People from Bitonto Italian anarchists Failed regicides Italian assassins Anarchist assassins Italian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Italian people who died in prison custody Italian people imprisoned abroad Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Belgium Prisoners who died in Belgian detention People convicted of attempted murder Leopold II of Belgium