Errico Malatesta
Encyclopedia
Errico Malatesta was an Italian anarcho-communist
. He was an insurrectionary anarchist
early in his life. He spent much of his life exiled from his homeland of Italy
and in total spent more than ten years in prison
. He wrote and edited a number of radical newspapers and was also a friend of Mikhail Bakunin
. He was an enormously popular figure in his time. According to journalist Brian Doherty
, "Malatesta could get tens of thousands, sometimes more than 100,000, fans to show up whenever [he] arrived in town."
, in the province of Caserta
(southern Italy). The first of a long series of arrests came at just fourteen, when he was apprehended for writing a letter to King Victor Emmanuel II that complained about local injustice.
Malatesta was introduced to Mazzinian
Republicanism
while studying medicine
at the University of Naples; however, he was expelled from the university in 1871 for joining a demonstration. Partly via his enthusiasm for the Paris Commune
and partly via his friendship with Carmelo Palladino, he joined the Naples
section of the International Workingmen's Association
that same year, as well as teaching himself to be a mechanic and electrician. In 1872 he met Mikhail Bakunin
, with whom he participated in the St Imier congress
of the International. For the next four years, Malatesta helped spread Internationalist propaganda in Italy; he was imprisoned twice for these activities.
In April 1877, Malatesta, Carlo Cafiero
, the Russia
n Stepniak and about 30 others started an insurrection in the province of Benevento, taking the villages of Letino
and Gallo
without a struggle. The revolutionaries burned tax
registers and declared the end of the King's reign, and were met by enthusiasm: even a local priest showed his support. After leaving Gallo, however, they were arrested by government troops and held for sixteen months before being acquitted. After a number of terroristic
attacks on the Italian royal family
and their supporters, the radicals were kept under constant surveillance by the police. Even though the anarchists claimed to have no connection to the attacks, Malatesta, being an advocate of social revolution, was included in this surveillance. After returning to Naples
, he was forced to leave Italy altogether because of these conditions, beginning a long period of exile.
He went to Egypt
briefly, visiting some Italian friends but was soon expelled by the Italian Consul. After working his passage on a French
ship and being refused entry to Syria
, Turkey
and Italy, he landed in Marseille
where he made his way to Geneva
in Switzerland
– then something of an anarchist centre. Here he befriended Elisée Reclus
and Peter Kropotkin
, helping the latter to produce La Révolte. However, he was soon expelled from Switzerland, and eventually travelled to London
in 1880, passing through Romania
, Paris
and Belgium
.
seller and a mechanic, and participated in the 1872 congress of the International, which gave birth to the Anarchist St. Imier International
.
He went to fight the British colonial troops
in Egypt in 1882, then secretly returned to Italy the following year. In Florence
he founded the weekly anarchist paper La Questione Sociale (The Social Question) in which his most popular pamphlet
, Fra Contadini (Among Farmers), first appeared. Malatesta went back to Naples in 1884—while waiting to serve a three year prison term—to nurse the victims of a cholera
epidemic. Once again, he fled Italy to escape imprisonment and went to South America
. He lived in Buenos Aires
in 1885, where he resumed publication of La Questione Sociale, and was involved in the founding of the first militant workers' union in Argentina
, the Bakers Union, and left an anarchist impression in the workers' movements there for years to come.
Returning to Europe
in 1889, he published a newspaper called L'Associazione in Nice
until he was forced to flee to London. For the next eight years Malatesta was based in London, but made clandestine trips to France, Switzerland
and Italy and went on a lecture tour of Spain
with Fernando Tarrida del Mármol
. During this time he wrote several important pamphlets, including L'Anarchia. Malatesta then took part in the International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam
(1907), where he debated in particular with Pierre Monatte
on the relation between anarchism and syndicalism
(or trade-unionism). The latter thought that syndicalism was revolutionary and would create the conditions of a social revolution
, while Malatesta considered that syndicalism by itself was not sufficient. Malatesta thought that trade-unions were reformist, and could even be, at times, conservative. Along with Christiaan Cornelissen
, he cited as example US trade-unions
, where trade-unions composed of qualified workers sometimes opposed themselves to non-qualified workers in order to defend their relatively privileged position. In 1912, Malatesta appeared in Bow Street Police Court on a criminal libel charge, which resulted in a 3 month prison
sentence
, and his recommendation for deportation
. This order was quashed following campaigning by the radical press and demonstrations by workers organisations.
After the First World War
, Malatesta eventually returned to Italy for the final time. Two years after his return, in 1921, the Italian government imprisoned him, again, although he was released two months before the fascist
s came to power. From 1924 until 1926, when Benito Mussolini
silenced all independent press, Malatesta published the journal Pensiero e Volontà, although he was harassed and the journal suffered from government censorship. He was to spend his remaining years leading a relatively quiet life, earning a living as an electrician. After years of suffering from a weak respiratory system and regular bronchial attacks
, he developed bronchial pneumonia
from which he died after a few weeks, despite being given 1500 litres of oxygen in his last five hours. He died on Friday, 22 July 1932.
at the Amsterdam Conference of 1907, against the pure syndicalism
later lead to anarcho-syndicalism
. He advocated activity in the trade unions, though he was opposed to holding official positions in the unions.
His constant work as an organizer and speaker embodied his ideals of free association: for Malatesta, it was useful to join an organization only for the purpose of doing something with that group of people. There was no sense in belonging to a group simply to belong.
would be a necessary part of it since the state
rested ultimately on violent coercion. As he wrote in his article "The Revolutionary 'Haste'":
Malatesta, then, advocated violence as a "necessary" part of the emancipation of the working class
.
Anarchist communism
Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets, money, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with...
. He was an insurrectionary anarchist
Insurrectionary anarchism
Insurrectionary anarchism is a revolutionary theory, practice and tendency within the anarchist movement which emphasizes the theme of insurrection within anarchist practice. It is critical of formal organizations such as labor unions and federations that are based on a political programme and...
early in his life. He spent much of his life exiled from his homeland of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and in total spent more than ten years in prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. He wrote and edited a number of radical newspapers and was also a friend of Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was a well-known Russian revolutionary and theorist of collectivist anarchism. He has also often been called the father of anarchist theory in general. Bakunin grew up near Moscow, where he moved to study philosophy and began to read the French Encyclopedists,...
. He was an enormously popular figure in his time. According to journalist Brian Doherty
Brian Doherty (journalist)
Brian Doherty is an American journalist. He is a Senior Editor at Reason magazine. He is the author of This Is Burning Man: The Rise of a New American Underground , Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement and Gun Control on Trial: Inside the...
, "Malatesta could get tens of thousands, sometimes more than 100,000, fans to show up whenever [he] arrived in town."
Biography
Malatesta was born in Santa Maria Capua VetereSanta Maria Capua Vetere
-External links:*...
, in the province of Caserta
Province of Caserta
The Province of Caserta is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Caserta. The former royal palace of Caserta is located near to the city.It has an area of 2,639 km², and a total population of 879,342...
(southern Italy). The first of a long series of arrests came at just fourteen, when he was apprehended for writing a letter to King Victor Emmanuel II that complained about local injustice.
Malatesta was introduced to Mazzinian
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
Republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
while studying medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the University of Naples; however, he was expelled from the university in 1871 for joining a demonstration. Partly via his enthusiasm for the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
and partly via his friendship with Carmelo Palladino, he joined the Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
section of the International Workingmen's Association
International Workingmen's Association
The International Workingmen's Association , sometimes called the First International, was an international organization which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist political groups and trade union organizations that were based on the working class...
that same year, as well as teaching himself to be a mechanic and electrician. In 1872 he met Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was a well-known Russian revolutionary and theorist of collectivist anarchism. He has also often been called the father of anarchist theory in general. Bakunin grew up near Moscow, where he moved to study philosophy and began to read the French Encyclopedists,...
, with whom he participated in the St Imier congress
Anarchist St. Imier International
The Anarchist St. Imier International was an international anarchist organization formed in 1872 when the anarchist sections were expelled from the First International after the Hague Congress .The St...
of the International. For the next four years, Malatesta helped spread Internationalist propaganda in Italy; he was imprisoned twice for these activities.
In April 1877, Malatesta, Carlo Cafiero
Carlo Cafiero
Carlo Cafiero was an Italian anarchist and champion of Mikhail Bakunin during the second half of the 19th century.-Early years:...
, the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Stepniak and about 30 others started an insurrection in the province of Benevento, taking the villages of Letino
Letino
Letino is a comune and small village in the province of Caserta, in Campania, southern Italy.It was one of the villages liberated by the Italian Libertarian Communist Insurrection of 1877 by Errico Malatesta, Carlo Cafiero, Pietro Cesare Ceccarelli, the Russian Stepniak and 30 other comrades....
and Gallo
Gallo Matese
Gallo Matese is a comune in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located in a valley near the Matese Apennines chain and the boundary with Molise, about 70 km north of Naples and about 45 km north of Caserta. Its territory is also home of an artificial lake with the...
without a struggle. The revolutionaries burned tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
registers and declared the end of the King's reign, and were met by enthusiasm: even a local priest showed his support. After leaving Gallo, however, they were arrested by government troops and held for sixteen months before being acquitted. After a number of terroristic
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
attacks on the Italian royal family
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
and their supporters, the radicals were kept under constant surveillance by the police. Even though the anarchists claimed to have no connection to the attacks, Malatesta, being an advocate of social revolution, was included in this surveillance. After returning to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, he was forced to leave Italy altogether because of these conditions, beginning a long period of exile.
He went to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
briefly, visiting some Italian friends but was soon expelled by the Italian Consul. After working his passage on a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
ship and being refused entry to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Italy, he landed in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
where he made his way to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
– then something of an anarchist centre. Here he befriended Elisée Reclus
Élisée Reclus
Élisée Reclus , also known as Jacques Élisée Reclus, was a renowned French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes , over a period of nearly 20 years...
and Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
, helping the latter to produce La Révolte. However, he was soon expelled from Switzerland, and eventually travelled to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1880, passing through Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
London
In London, Malatesta worked as an ice creamIce cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
seller and a mechanic, and participated in the 1872 congress of the International, which gave birth to the Anarchist St. Imier International
Anarchist St. Imier International
The Anarchist St. Imier International was an international anarchist organization formed in 1872 when the anarchist sections were expelled from the First International after the Hague Congress .The St...
.
He went to fight the British colonial troops
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
in Egypt in 1882, then secretly returned to Italy the following year. In Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
he founded the weekly anarchist paper La Questione Sociale (The Social Question) in which his most popular pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
, Fra Contadini (Among Farmers), first appeared. Malatesta went back to Naples in 1884—while waiting to serve a three year prison term—to nurse the victims of a cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic. Once again, he fled Italy to escape imprisonment and went to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. He lived in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1885, where he resumed publication of La Questione Sociale, and was involved in the founding of the first militant workers' union in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, the Bakers Union, and left an anarchist impression in the workers' movements there for years to come.
Returning to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1889, he published a newspaper called L'Associazione in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
until he was forced to flee to London. For the next eight years Malatesta was based in London, but made clandestine trips to France, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Italy and went on a lecture tour of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
with Fernando Tarrida del Mármol
Fernando Tarrida del Mármol
Fernando Tarrida del Mármol , was a Cuban anarchist writer. He was born in Havana to a wealthy family of Catalan emigrants, and was the nephew of Cuban general Donato Mármol. He studied engineering in Barcelona, Toulouse and Madrid, becoming professor and director of the Polytechnic School of...
. During this time he wrote several important pamphlets, including L'Anarchia. Malatesta then took part in the International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam
International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam
The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam took place from 24 August to 31 August 1907. It gathered delegates from 14 different countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît Broutchoux, Pierre Monatte, Amédée Dunois, Emma...
(1907), where he debated in particular with Pierre Monatte
Pierre Monatte
Pierre Monatte was a French trade unionist who worked in the printing industry . He was the responsible of the Confédération générale du travail at the beginning of the 20th century, and founded its journal La Vie ouvrière on 5 October 1909...
on the relation between anarchism and syndicalism
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...
(or trade-unionism). The latter thought that syndicalism was revolutionary and would create the conditions of a social revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
, while Malatesta considered that syndicalism by itself was not sufficient. Malatesta thought that trade-unions were reformist, and could even be, at times, conservative. Along with Christiaan Cornelissen
Christiaan Cornelissen
Christiaan Gerardus Cornelissen was a Dutch syndicalist writer, economist, and trade unionist.Cornelissen was the second of five children of Johannes Cornelissen, carpenter in Den Bosch, Noord Brabant, and Mechelina van Wijk. He became a primary school teacher in Middelburg, Zeeland...
, he cited as example US trade-unions
Labor unions in the United States
Labor unions in the United States are legally recognized as representatives of workers in many industries. The most prominent unions are among public sector employees such as teachers and police...
, where trade-unions composed of qualified workers sometimes opposed themselves to non-qualified workers in order to defend their relatively privileged position. In 1912, Malatesta appeared in Bow Street Police Court on a criminal libel charge, which resulted in a 3 month prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
sentence
Sentence (law)
In law, a sentence forms the final explicit act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence can generally involve a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...
, and his recommendation for deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
. This order was quashed following campaigning by the radical press and demonstrations by workers organisations.
After the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Malatesta eventually returned to Italy for the final time. Two years after his return, in 1921, the Italian government imprisoned him, again, although he was released two months before the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
s came to power. From 1924 until 1926, when Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
silenced all independent press, Malatesta published the journal Pensiero e Volontà, although he was harassed and the journal suffered from government censorship. He was to spend his remaining years leading a relatively quiet life, earning a living as an electrician. After years of suffering from a weak respiratory system and regular bronchial attacks
Bronchospasm
Bronchospasm or a bronchial spasm is a sudden constriction of the muscles in the walls of the bronchioles. It is caused by the release of substances from mast cells or basophils under the influence of anaphylatoxins...
, he developed bronchial pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
from which he died after a few weeks, despite being given 1500 litres of oxygen in his last five hours. He died on Friday, 22 July 1932.
Political beliefs
Malatesta is difficult to place within the spectrum of the various political camps within anarchism both because his politics changed over time and because he did not identify himself strongly with any of the various groupings. His debate with MonatteInternational Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam
The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam took place from 24 August to 31 August 1907. It gathered delegates from 14 different countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît Broutchoux, Pierre Monatte, Amédée Dunois, Emma...
at the Amsterdam Conference of 1907, against the pure syndicalism
Syndicalism
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivised trade unions or industrial unions...
later lead to anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
. He advocated activity in the trade unions, though he was opposed to holding official positions in the unions.
His constant work as an organizer and speaker embodied his ideals of free association: for Malatesta, it was useful to join an organization only for the purpose of doing something with that group of people. There was no sense in belonging to a group simply to belong.
On violence
Malatesta was a committed revolutionary: he believed that the anarchist revolution was coming soon, and that violenceViolence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
would be a necessary part of it since the state
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
rested ultimately on violent coercion. As he wrote in his article "The Revolutionary 'Haste'":
- It is our aspiration and our aim that everyone should become socially conscious and effective; but to achieve this end, it is necessary to provide all with the means of life and for development, and it is therefore necessary to destroy with violence, since one cannot do otherwise, the violence which denies these means to the workers. (Umanità NovaUmanità NovaUmanità Nova is an Italian anarchist newspaper founded in 1920.It wa published daily until 1922, when it was shut down by the fascist regime. In some places its circulation exceeded that of the socialist paper Avanti!...
, number 125, September 6, 1921)
Malatesta, then, advocated violence as a "necessary" part of the emancipation of the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
.
Malatesta's periodicals
- La Révolte (with Kropotkin and others)
- La Questione Sociale
- L'Associazione
- Umanità Nova
- Pensiero e Volontà
Books
- Errico Malatesta - His Life And Ideas, compiled and edited by Vernon RichardsVernon RichardsVernon Richards was an Anglo-Italian anarchist, editor, author and companion of Marie-Louise Berneri.He was born Vero Recchioni in London in 1915. He was educated at Emanuel School, and King's College London, where he trained as a civil engineer...
(Freedom PressFreedom PressThe Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house in Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1886, it is the largest anarchist publishing house in the nation and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. It is based at 84b Whitechapel High Street in the East End of London...
, 1965, 1984) - Fra Contadini - A Dialogue On Anarchy, Errico Malatesta (originally published 1884; republished by Bratach Dubh Editions, 1981)
- Anarchy, Errico Malatesta, translated by Vernon Richards (Freedom press 1974)
- Life of Malatesta, Luigi FabbriLuigi FabbriLuigi Fabbri , was an Italian anarchist, writer, agitator and propagandist who was charged with defeatism during the World War I. He was the father of Luce Fabbri....
, translated by Adam Wight (originally published 1936) - At The Cafe - Conversations on Anarchism, Errico Malatesta (Freedom PressFreedom PressThe Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house in Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1886, it is the largest anarchist publishing house in the nation and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. It is based at 84b Whitechapel High Street in the East End of London...
, 2005) - Anarchism Or Democracy?, Errico Malatesta and Francesco Merlino, 1974
Films
- MalatestaMalatesta (film)Malatesta is a 1970 German drama film directed by Peter Lilienthal. It was entered into the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Eddie Constantine - Malatesta* Christine Noonan - Nina Vassileva* Vladimír Pucholt - Gardstein* Diana Senior - Ljuba Milstein...
(1970), directed by Peter LilienthalPeter LilienthalPeter Lilienthal is a German film director, writer, actor and producer. His 1979 film David won the Golden Bear at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival. His 1984 film Das Autogramm was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival.-Filmography:*1958 – Studie 23. *1959 – Im...
; see also , 1972 film loosely based on Malatesta's life
External links
- Errico Malatesta Page at the Anarchist Encyclopedia
- Collected works, images and biography
- Malatesta archive at Marxists Internet Archive
- Articles by and about Malatesta
- Libcom.org Malatesta Archive
- Malatesta articles at the Kate Sharpley Library