Why a silk weaver from New Jersey assassinated the King of Italy in 1900
In short: Gaetano Bresci, an Italian immigrant working in a Paterson, New Jersey textile mill, shocked the world by returning to Italy to assassinate King Umberto I. Motivated by the 1898 Bava Beccaris massacre, Bresci viewed the king as a tyrant. His act sparked global conspiracy theories and a lasting anarchist legacy.
Born in 1869 in Prato, Italy, Gaetano Bresci grew up in poverty after the Kingdom of Italy began importing cheap grain in 1880. Radicalized by workplace exploitation and state repression, he joined the anarchist movement before emigrating to the United States in 1897. In Paterson, New Jersey, he became a prolific contributor to the anarchist newspaper La Questione Sociale, where he developed a reputation as a dedicated activist.
The turning point for Bresci was the 1898 Bava Beccaris massacre, where the Italian army killed numerous protesters in Milan. King Umberto I had personally awarded a medal to the general responsible for the violence. Bresci, influenced by the individualist anarchist Giuseppe Ciancabilla, swore revenge. In 1900, he used $150 he had lent to his newspaper to fund his return to Italy, where he successfully assassinated the king on 29 July 1900 in Monza.
Bresci was sentenced to life imprisonment and confined to the remote Santo Stefano Island. Less than a year later, on 22 May 1901, he was found dead in his cell. While authorities ruled it a suicide, the suspicious circumstances—including missing registry pages and conflicting reports on the timing of his death—have led many historians to suspect he was murdered. His act inspired other assassins, including Leon Czolgosz, and cemented his status as a martyr within anarchist circles for decades to come.
The assassination had profound political consequences. While the Italian government feared a widespread conspiracy, investigations in both Italy and the United States found no evidence of organized collaboration. Instead of the expected crackdown, the Italian government under Giuseppe Giolitti eventually implemented reforms to reduce police repression. Conversely, the event fueled anti-anarchist sentiment globally, contributing to the passage of the 1903 Immigration Act in the United States.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Gaetano Bresci
- Also: Italian American assassinates Italian king | July 29, 1900 | HISTORY
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