Michele Angiolillo Lombardi | |
|---|---|
 An image of Michele Angiolillo published in the Spanish magazineBlanco y Negro. | |
| Born | (1871-06-05)June 5, 1871 |
| Died | August 20, 1897(1897-08-20) (aged 26) |
| Cause of death | Garrote |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Movement | Anarchism |
| Motive | Revenge for theMontjuïc trial |
| Criminal penalty | Capital punishment |
| Details | |
| Victims | Antonio Cánovas del Castillo |
| Killed | 1 |
| Weapons | 11.17mmWebley British Bulldog revolver[1] |
Michele Angiolillo Lombardi (Italian pronunciation:[miˈkɛːleandʒoˈlillo]; 5 June 1871 – 20 August 1897) was anItalian anarchist, born inFoggia,Italy. He assassinatedSpanishPrime MinisterAntonio Cánovas del Castillo in 1897 and was captured and executed by Spanish authorities in the same year.
On 7 June 1896, a bombwas thrown at theCorpus Christiprocession inBarcelona. At least twelve people died and 45 were seriously injured.[2][3] The crime, which was attributed bypolice to an unidentified anarchist, precipitated an aggressive reprisal against Spanishanarchists,communists,socialists, andrepublicans, in what became known as theMontjuïc trial: 300 allegedrevolutionaries were jailed atMontjuïc Fortress, and confessions were extracted bytorture.[3] The prime ministerAntonio Cánovas del Castillo himself ordered the repression. Reports of the prisoner abuse were circulated widely in the European press.
Of the 87 prisoners taken to trial at Montjuïc, eight receiveddeath sentences; five executions were carried out.[4] Many others were condemned to long imprisonment and the remaining prisoners were deported toRío de Oro (aSpanish colony in what is now the disputedWestern Sahara).
Angiolillo, was at the time, working as a printer in the little-known Typographia institution, the section of the British printer's union that was reserved for foreigners. On May 30, 1897, Angiolillo, among at least ten thousand other people, attended a demonstration inTrafalgar Square against the brutal repression of worker's rights movements within Spain, specifically under Cánovas. Organized by the Spanish Atrocities Committee led by the anarchist Joseph Perry, a wide range of activists spoke to the crowd, includingFernando Tarrida del Mármol andCharles Malato. Malato, in his speech, asked who would avenge the people who had died under the regime of Cánovas.[5]
After the protest, Angiolillo personally met with a man by the last name of Oller and Francisco Gana. Both of these men had terrible wounds, suffered from the torture that was administered on the order of Cánovas. The German anarchistRudolf Rocker, who was also present, wrote the following about the meeting:
"That night when Gana showed us his crippled limbs, and the scars over his entire body left by the tortures, we understood that it is one thing to read about such matters, but quite another to hear about them from the very lips of the victims" ... "We all sat there as if turned to stone, and it was some minutes before we could utter a few words of indignation. Only Angiolillo said not a word. A little later, he suddenly rose to his feet, uttered a laconic goodbye, and abandoned the house" ... "This was the last time I saw him."[5]
Under a false identity of a reporter for the Il Popolo newspaper by the name of Emilio Rinaldini, Michele Angiolillo traveled to Spain from London, passing throughParis andBordeaux.[6] When he reachedMadrid, he learned that Cánovas had traveled to the thermal bath resort of Santa Águeda (now a psychiatric hospital) inMondragón,Guipúzcoa, and decided to pursue him there.[5] On 8 August 1897, Angiolillo found Cánovas alone and shot him dead. The Prime Minister's wife hurried to the scene, shouting "Murderer! Murderer!" after the gunman. Angiolillo, in turn, bowed and declared, "Pardon, Madame. I respect you as a lady, but I regret that you were the wife of that man." The repression and mass torture at Montjuich was a direct factor behind Michele Angiolillo's decision to assassinate Cánovas, and he claimed in his defence speech to be "no assassin, but rather an executioner", calling Cánovas, among other things, the personification of the greed of thebourgeoisie and the tyranny of power.[7]
About Angiolillo, theNew York Times wrote:
Angiolillo allowed the authorities to capture him and vehemently denied other parties' involvement in the assassination. He was executed bygarrote in the nearby town ofVergara.[8]
There is some evidence that he originally planned to kill one or two young members of the Spanish royal family, but was dissuaded byPuerto Rican nationalist leaderRamón Emeterio Betances, who suggested Cánovas del Castillo as a target instead. Betances provided logistical assistance for Angiolillo's safe travel into Spain, as well as some money.[9]
There is a street named after him in Foggia.[10]
Media related toMichele Angiolillo at Wikimedia Commons
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