Gaetano Bresci



An Italian-American anarchist who assassinated Umberto I, King of Italy. Found dead in prison, "suicided" by the guards. Born in Tuscany in 1869, killed May 22, 1901.

Gaetano Bresci emigrated from Italy to the US, & was working & living in the large Italian-American anarchist community in Paterson, New Jersey, when demonstrations over high bread prices led to demonstrations all over Italy.

In Milan, General Bava Beccaris fired cannons on a peaceful demonstration, leaving hundreds dead. "Order restored", the King of Italy, Umberto I had the gall to decorate the butcher Beccaris, & consequently, Gaetano Bresci determined to kill the king. Bresci went to Italy & in Monza, where the King was visiting, put three bullets into him on July 29, 1900.

Bresci was defended by the anarchist lawyer, Francesco Saverio Merlino, & sentenced in Milan, August 29, 1900, to hard labor at Santo Stefano Prison at Ventotene Island (where numerous other anarchists had also been sent over the years).