Malatesta, Errico (1853-1932), anarchist

Malatesta, Errico (1853-1932), anarchist, was born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Caserta province, Italy, on 14 December 1853, the son of Federico Malatesta, a landowner, and his wife, Lazzarina, née Rostoia. He attended school in Santa Maria and then at the Scolopian college in Naples. Inspired by contemporary republican ideals and the actions of Mazzini and Garibaldi, he displayed revolutionary tendencies from an early age. At fourteen he was arrested for writing an insolent letter to the king, Victor Emmanuel II. His interest in social justice soon led him from republicanism to socialism, and by 1870 he adopted the ideas of the International, which, under the influence of Michael Bakunin, had acquired an anarchist slant. He abandoned his medical studies at Naples University after three years and devoted himself to his work as an agitator and propagandist for libertarian socialism. Arrested in July 1873, he was imprisoned for six months. After his release Malatesta, along with fellow radicals Bakunin, Carlo Cafiero, and Andrea Costa, developed a plan for a nationwide revolt. The authorities were forewarned of their rising, in Bologna in August 1874, and acted quickly to suppress the rebels. Acquitted of any wrongdoing, Malatesta travelled in Italy, Spain, and the Ottoman empire.