Giuseppe De Felice Giuffrida
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe De Felice Giuffrida (Catania, April 11, 1859 – Aci Castello, July 19, 1920) was a Sicilian socialist politician and journalist. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Fasci Siciliani
(Sicilian Leagues) a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration.
, he soon lost his father, and spent his childhood years in a children's home. To feed the family and attend school, he practiced many trades: wine seller, salesman of sewing machines, a printer, and even playing the tuba
in a band. He graduated in Law, passed the examinations of attorney, but did not exercise the legal profession ever, and preferred to accept a position as an archivist in the prefecture. From that position he was removed after a short time, due to continuous attacks launched by him against local authorities.
His combative temperament was played out in journalism. A little over twenty years, in 1880, he founded the political weekly Lo staffile (The Whip), whose very title reflects the polemic nature of its contents. A few years later, another weekly L'unione (The Union), which had emerged as the organ of the Republican Club, became the workers' organ of Catania.
De Felice was very active in organizing workers. In 1890 he convened the first congress of workers' associations in Sicily, with the adhesion of a couple of hundreds of associations. However, the congress was prohibited by the police superintendent of Catania, on the orders of Prime Minister Francesco Crispi
.
(Workers League) in his hometown Catania
. The Fascio’s rapid success as a combination of trade union and mutual benefit society led to the foundation of similar leagues in Palermo
and many other Sicilian towns in the next two years. Meanwhile, in November 1892, he was elected a Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
, the only Sicilian among the socialist deputees.
Although a socialist by inspiration, he remained independent of the official party. At the Congress of the Fasci in Palermo on May 21-22, 1893, De Felice successfully represented the tendency for autonomy within the movement, and was elected a member of the new Central Committee. De Felice, counting on the anarchists, urged immediate insurrection if the government tried to dissolve the Fasci, the majority recognised the futulity of barricades and favoured calm and prudence.
In 1893 the upheaval of the Fasci turned into strikes which were violently repressed in January 1894, after Francesco Crispi
had taken over government from Giovanni Giolitti
. After the declaration of a state of siege on Sicily, De Felice Giuffrida left from Rome for Catania. "The Fasci are perfectly organized, and will resist the military. My place is there among my people. I do not fear the force of arms. … Of course Crispi will imprison me, but it will not help him. My arrest will only react against the Government," he declared. He was arrested after attending a meeting of the Revolutionary Committee on January 4, 1894. Although he initially wanted to resist the arrest, he was persuaded not to do so as resistance to arrest would have been punishable by death under the state of siege. His arrest was described in The New York Times as a wisw act, as De Felice's personal influence alone could have brought Catania to the verge of rebellion.
On May 30, 1894, he was sentenced to 18 years of prison at a trial in Palermo against the leaders of the Fasci. After two years, he was released in March 1896 as the result of a pardon recognizing the excessive brutality of the repression. After his release, De Felice, and other Fasci leaders Nicola Barbato
and Rosario Garibaldi Bosco
were met by a large crowd of supporters in Rome, who released the horses form their carriage and dragged them to the hotel, cheering for socialism and denouncing Crispi. De Felice said that after he had left the prison he was still more a revolutionary than when he entered it.
in Crete
. Re-elected again in the general election of March 1897, he would remain in Parliament until his death in 1920. During the elections his portrait was raised on many altars with burning candles, as before the Saints.
He also worked as a journalist with some important national newspapers. As such, he was sent to Paris in 1899 for the Dreyfus trial
by Il Secolo newspaper from Milan and Avanti
from Rome. In 1906, he assumed the direction of the Corriere di Catania.
, and remained there until his death in 1920.
He was among those who left the Italian Socialist Party
in 1912, supporting the Italian invasion of Libya. He saw the new land as essential to relieving southern Italy of the rising cost of bread which had caused riots in the south, and advocated a "war of revolution". He joined the Italian Reform Socialist Party
of Ivanoe Bonomi
and Leonida Bissolati
and supported Italy's participation in World War I
on the side of the Triple Entente
. He volunteered to fight at the front.
. The funeral procession is estimated to have been attended by about two hundred thousand people; the whole of Catania then.
De Felice was a controversial and charismatic leader and a gifted speaker. Some considered him to be a populist demagogue.
Fasci Siciliani
The Fasci Siciliani, short for Fasci Siciliani dei Lavoratori , were a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration, which arose in Sicily in the years between 1889 and 1894...
(Sicilian Leagues) a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration.
Early life
Born in a humble family in CataniaCatania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
, he soon lost his father, and spent his childhood years in a children's home. To feed the family and attend school, he practiced many trades: wine seller, salesman of sewing machines, a printer, and even playing the tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
in a band. He graduated in Law, passed the examinations of attorney, but did not exercise the legal profession ever, and preferred to accept a position as an archivist in the prefecture. From that position he was removed after a short time, due to continuous attacks launched by him against local authorities.
His combative temperament was played out in journalism. A little over twenty years, in 1880, he founded the political weekly Lo staffile (The Whip), whose very title reflects the polemic nature of its contents. A few years later, another weekly L'unione (The Union), which had emerged as the organ of the Republican Club, became the workers' organ of Catania.
De Felice was very active in organizing workers. In 1890 he convened the first congress of workers' associations in Sicily, with the adhesion of a couple of hundreds of associations. However, the congress was prohibited by the police superintendent of Catania, on the orders of Prime Minister Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi was a 19th-century Italian politician of Arbëreshë ancestry. He was instrumental in the unification of Italy and was its 17th and 20th Prime Minister from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896.-Sicily:Crispi’s paternal family came originally from the small agricultural...
.
Fasci Siciliani
On May 1, 1891, he founded the first Fascio dei lavoratoriFasci Siciliani
The Fasci Siciliani, short for Fasci Siciliani dei Lavoratori , were a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration, which arose in Sicily in the years between 1889 and 1894...
(Workers League) in his hometown Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...
. The Fascio’s rapid success as a combination of trade union and mutual benefit society led to the foundation of similar leagues in Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
and many other Sicilian towns in the next two years. Meanwhile, in November 1892, he was elected a Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
, the only Sicilian among the socialist deputees.
Although a socialist by inspiration, he remained independent of the official party. At the Congress of the Fasci in Palermo on May 21-22, 1893, De Felice successfully represented the tendency for autonomy within the movement, and was elected a member of the new Central Committee. De Felice, counting on the anarchists, urged immediate insurrection if the government tried to dissolve the Fasci, the majority recognised the futulity of barricades and favoured calm and prudence.
In 1893 the upheaval of the Fasci turned into strikes which were violently repressed in January 1894, after Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi
Francesco Crispi was a 19th-century Italian politician of Arbëreshë ancestry. He was instrumental in the unification of Italy and was its 17th and 20th Prime Minister from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896.-Sicily:Crispi’s paternal family came originally from the small agricultural...
had taken over government from Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti
Giovanni Giolitti was an Italian statesman. He was the 19th, 25th, 29th, 32nd and 37th Prime Minister of Italy between 1892 and 1921. A left-wing liberal, Giolitti's periods in office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved the living standards of...
. After the declaration of a state of siege on Sicily, De Felice Giuffrida left from Rome for Catania. "The Fasci are perfectly organized, and will resist the military. My place is there among my people. I do not fear the force of arms. … Of course Crispi will imprison me, but it will not help him. My arrest will only react against the Government," he declared. He was arrested after attending a meeting of the Revolutionary Committee on January 4, 1894. Although he initially wanted to resist the arrest, he was persuaded not to do so as resistance to arrest would have been punishable by death under the state of siege. His arrest was described in The New York Times as a wisw act, as De Felice's personal influence alone could have brought Catania to the verge of rebellion.
On May 30, 1894, he was sentenced to 18 years of prison at a trial in Palermo against the leaders of the Fasci. After two years, he was released in March 1896 as the result of a pardon recognizing the excessive brutality of the repression. After his release, De Felice, and other Fasci leaders Nicola Barbato
Nicola Barbato
Nicola Barbato, , was a Arbëreshë socialist and politician. He was one of the national leaders of the Fasci Siciliani a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration in 1891-1894, and perhaps might have been the ablest among them, according to the Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawm.-Early...
and Rosario Garibaldi Bosco
Rosario Garibaldi Bosco
Rosario Garibaldi Bosco was an Italian politician and writer; a Republican-inspired socialist...
were met by a large crowd of supporters in Rome, who released the horses form their carriage and dragged them to the hotel, cheering for socialism and denouncing Crispi. De Felice said that after he had left the prison he was still more a revolutionary than when he entered it.
Re-elected
Back in Catania, De Felice (who had been re-elected in May 1895 and September 1895 by popular acclaim, although he could not be sworn in re-elected as a prisoner) was received with the honors of a triumph. Shortly thereafter, he volunteered to go fight with partisans during the Turkish-Greek warGreco-Turkish War (1897)
The Greco-Turkish War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known as the Black '97 in Greece, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause was the question over the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek majority long desired union...
in Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. Re-elected again in the general election of March 1897, he would remain in Parliament until his death in 1920. During the elections his portrait was raised on many altars with burning candles, as before the Saints.
He also worked as a journalist with some important national newspapers. As such, he was sent to Paris in 1899 for the Dreyfus trial
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
by Il Secolo newspaper from Milan and Avanti
Avanti
Avanti may refer to:* Avanti , a UK Government sponsored programme to assist construction project partners to work together more effectively...
from Rome. In 1906, he assumed the direction of the Corriere di Catania.
Mayor of Catania
In 1902 he was elected as the first left-wing mayor of Catania and became the protagonist of a kind of municipal socialism until 1914. He municipalized the bread ovens and instigated many public works. On August 10, 1914, he was elected President of the Province of CataniaProvince of Catania
Catania is a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital is the city of Catania.It has an area of 3,552 km², and a total population of 1,073,881 . There are 58 comunes in the province, see Comunes of the Province of Catania...
, and remained there until his death in 1920.
He was among those who left the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
in 1912, supporting the Italian invasion of Libya. He saw the new land as essential to relieving southern Italy of the rising cost of bread which had caused riots in the south, and advocated a "war of revolution". He joined the Italian Reform Socialist Party
Italian Reform Socialist Party
The Italian Reform Socialist Party was a social-democratic political party in Italy.It was formed in 1912 by those leading reformists who had been expelled from the Italian Socialist Party because of their desire of entering in the majority supporting Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti...
of Ivanoe Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi was an Italian politician and statesman before and after World War II.Bonomi was born in Mantua. He was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1909, representing Mantua as a member of the Italian Socialist Party...
and Leonida Bissolati
Leonida Bissolati
Leonida Bissolati was a leading exponent of the Italian socialist movement at the turn of the nineteenth century.- Biography :...
and supported Italy's participation in World War I
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...
on the side of the Triple Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
. He volunteered to fight at the front.
Death and legacy
He died on July 19, 1920. The news of his death came unexpectedly and caused a wave of popular mourning in Catania. The corpse of the politician, loved by the people who came to call "u nostru patri", was transported by tram and followed by thousands of people; many others mourned his passing. When he died he had only six lireLire
Lire is a French literary magazine covering both French and foreign literature. It was founded in 1975 by Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber and Bernard Pivot.-External links:*...
. The funeral procession is estimated to have been attended by about two hundred thousand people; the whole of Catania then.
De Felice was a controversial and charismatic leader and a gifted speaker. Some considered him to be a populist demagogue.
Publications
- Popolazione e Socialismo. Palermo, Biondo, 1896.
- Evoluzione storica della Proprietà e il Socialismo in Sicilia
- Maffia e delinquenza in Sicilia. Milan, 1900.
- La questione sociale in Sicilia. Rome, 1901.