Luigi Galleani | |
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Born |
Vercelli, Italy |
August 12, 1861
Died | November 4, 1931 Caprigliola, Aulla, Italy |
(aged 70)
Cause of death | Myocardial infarction (Heart Attack) |
Nationality | Italian |
Known for |
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Notable work |
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Movement | |
Spouse(s) | Maria Galleani |
Children | 4 |
Luigi Galleani (Italian: [luˈidʒi ɡalleˈani]; August 12, 1861 – November 4, 1931) was an Italian anarchist active in the United States from 1901 to 1919, viewed by historians as an insurrectionary anarchist. He is best known for his enthusiastic advocacy of "propaganda of the deed", i.e. the use of violence to eliminate tyrants and oppressors and to act as a catalyst to the overthrow of existing government institutions. From 1914 to 1932, Galleani's followers in the United States (known as i Galleanisti), carried out a series of bombings and assassination attempts against institutions and persons they viewed as class enemies. After Galleani was deported from the United States to Italy in June 1919, his colleagues are alleged to have carried out the Wall Street bombing of 1920, which resulted in the deaths of 38 people.
Luigi Galleani was born in the city of Vercelli, Italy, to a family of modest means. Galleani became an anarchist as an adolescent, while studying law at the University of Turin in northern Italy. Leaving the university before completing his degree, he had already begun a strong advocacy of anarchism and anarchist ideals. Wanted by police in Turin, he fled to France in 1880.
Galleani remained in France for nearly 20 years. He spent some time in Switzerland, where he was allied with the noted geographer and fellow anarchist Élisée Reclus. In addition to assisting him with his masterwork, La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, Galleani worked with Reclus to organize a demonstration of students at the University of Geneva in 1887. The event was held in honor of the Haymarket martyrs of Chicago, who were killed in labor unrest. For this, he was arrested and later deported from Switzerland. Moving to France, Galleani was deported from that country a few years later.