The Life and Times of Malatesta

Talk Given by Andrew Blackmore on 23 
November, 1994 to Workers Solidarity
Movement meeting, Dublin, Ireland.

Malatesta was one of the famous anarchists of 
the 19th century. He lived 79 years. Not as 
much is known of him as for example Bakunin 
or Kropotkin for a few reasons. He never kept 
a diary, he was Italian, and he was very 
active and continually hopping from one 
country to another, which meant he never kept 
a store of his own writings. For these 
reasons he has not been an attractive person 
to study and write about, because the work 
would be too hard.

For nearly sixty years, Malatesta was active 
in the anarchist movement as an agitator and 
as a propagandist. He was one of the 
movements most respected members as well as 
remaining to the end one of its most 
controversial. He was active in many parts of 
the world, as well as the editor of a number 
of Italian anarchist journals including the 
daily Umanita Nova  (1920-22). Nearly half 
his life was spent in exile and his impact is 
evidenced by the fact that he spent more than 
ten years in prison, mainly awaiting trial. 
The last six years of his life were spent 
under house arrest.

His health
Malatesta was a sick man. He had a weak 
respiratory system throughout his life and 
was subject to regular bronchial attacks. In 
the last few weeks of his life he developed 
bronchial pneumonia which finally finished 
him off, despite being given 1500 litres of 
oxygen in his last five hours. He died on 
Friday, 22nd July 1932.

Sixty years earlier, when Malatesta first met 
Bakunin, he had been so sick that he was 
spitting blood. He arrived at Bakunin's house 
with a feverish cough and Bakunin had put him 
to bed and told him to sleep. When Bakunin 
thought Malatesta was asleep, he said to his 
friends who were in the room "What a shame 
that he should be so sick: we shall lose him 
very soon; he won't last more than six 
months." (In, fact, Malatesta was to outlive 
Bakunin by over fifty years.)

His sickness was to remain with him 
throughout his life and finally kill him.

His birth
But to get back to the beginning. Errico 
Malatesta was born in Santa Maria Capua 
Vetere in the province of Caserta, Italy, on 
December 14, 1853. There are a number of 
sources which claim that he was of 
aristocratic descent, but my source, which is 
Freedom Press does not think this is true. He 
was, anyway, the son of a modest to rich 
landowner.

By the time of Malatesta's first meeting with 
Bakunin, which as I already said was in 1872, 
when Malatesta was 19, Malatesta's mother, 
father and a brother and sister had all died 
from chest complaints. So it was a sick 
family.

His first political act was at the tender age 
of 14, when he sent a "threatening and 
insolent" letter to the King, Victor Emmanuel 
II complaining about a local injustice. He 
was arrested, but his father got him out and 
sent him to a special school to cure him of 
his strange ideas.

At that time he was a republican and applied 
to join the Universal Republican Alliance. 
This was the Republican movement which was 
lead by Mazzini who was to create the new 
Italian Republic. Malatestas membership was 
turned down on the grounds that he was too 
socialistic and that he would probably not 
last long, but would leave and join the 
International.

Malatesta, who had not then heard of the 
International, (by the way this is the First 
International), went on to find out more 
about it.

Two years later when he was 16, he was again 
arrested at a demo and sentenced in Naples. 
He was kicked out of his college, the 
University of Naples for a year.

The year after was 1871, the year of the 
Paris Commune. Malatesta joined the 
International a few months later. He not only 
joined himself, but persuaded many of his 
friends to join, as well as a group of 
workers. He had a great capacity for work, 
but he also had a great capacity to inspire 
people around him, a gift he was to keep 
throughout his life.

His early years
In those early years, Malatesta and his mates 
threw everything into making a revolution 
which they believed to be just around the 
corner.They gave everything they had, time 
and money, even so far as selling their 
household possessions. To quote the great man 
himself;

"Often one went to prison, but came out with 
more energy than before; persecutions only 
awakened our enthusiasm. It is true that the 
persecutions at that time were jokes compared 
with what took place later. At that time the 
regime had emerged from  a series of 
revolutions; and the authorities, from the 
beginning stern so far as the workers, 
especially in the country, were concerned, 
showed a certain respect for freedom in the 
political struggle, a kind of embarrassment 
at being similar to the Bourbon and Austrian 
rulers, which however disappeared as the 
regime became consolidated and the struggle 
for national independence receded into the 
background"

Malatesta learnt some valuable lessons. One 
of the first was that you could not lead the 
workers soley by example. His anarchist group 
could get themselves arrested and persecuted 
over and over again and it was not going to 
make the working class as a whole rise up. 
Something more was needed.

He also learnt that the working class was not 
going so rise up spontaneously and create a 
revolution. Even though, at the time there 
was mass discontent and regular uprisings. 
Malatesta wrote that when an uprising does 
take place:

" the signori [ie, the aristos] if they have 
any sense can more easily control by 
distributing bread and throwing a few coppers 
to the clamouring mob from their balconies, 
than by ordering the carabineers to fire on 
them. And if our wishes had not blinded our 
powers of observation, we could easily have 
noted the depressing, and therefore counter-
revolutionary effect of hunger, and the fact 
that our propaganda was most effective in the 
least depressed regions and among those 
workers, mostly artisans, who were in less 
difficult financial straits."

Bakunin
Malatesta also became a Bakuninist, that is a 
follower of Bakunin's ideas within the First 
International. He was very clear on avoiding 
the cult of personality and would never agree 
with someone for what they were, but what 
they stood for. In fact, later on he 
criticised Bakunin for being too much of a 
Marxist.

Once he got over his initial learning, he 
continued throughout his life with three 
guiding points. He believed in the importance 
of propaganda in order to spread ideas and as 
he puts it, to push people to think and act 
for themselves. He was therefore an 
indefatigable propagandist of the written and 
spoken word. But he saw the limits of 
propaganda and viewed direct action as a 
vital component for preparing the environment 
for revolution. And the final ingredient was 
that he was an Internationalist.

Life in Exile
As I mentioned at the beginning, Malatesta 
spent nearly half his life in exile, 35 years 
to be exact. The first period in exile began 
in 1878, when he was 25 years old. He 
returned to Italy five years later, when he 
was 30, but left the year after for South 
America and did not come back until 1897 when 
he was 43.

This time he stayed for 2 years while he 
edited the paper L'Agitazione   (Agitation). 
So in 1899 he went off again where he lived 
most of the time in London and did not return 
to Italy until 1913-14 for barely a year, at 
the tender age of 60.

His last return to Italy was in 1919, and he 
lived out his last remaining 13 years there. 

Time spent in London
During his years of exile he was not 
necessarily active. For example the 19 years 
that he spent in London between 1900 and 1919 
he did little apart from go to an Anarchist 
International Congress in Amsterdam in 1907 
and an exciting period in Italy when he was 
60 during the years of 1913-14, which 
culminated in Red Week, June 1914.

Perhaps his most famous influence, in 
England, was a criminal libel case in 1912 
where he was sentenced to deportation and 3 
months in prison. (not in that order). A 
strong campaign for his release in the 
radical press and a mass demonstration in 
Trafalgar Square resulted in the sentence 
being quashed.

Malatesta at 60
It is a sign of Malatesta's influence and 
inspiration, that he was able, at the age of 
sixty to start things going in Italy, from 
where he lived, in London WC1. At the time, 
the anarchist movement in Italy was more or 
less torn apart by internal and personal 
problems. Many ex-anarchists had joined 
bourgeois parties. Malatesta, though, decided 
that the time was ripe for a growth in 
anarchist activity. The Italians had just 
fought an unpopular war, the Tripolitanian 
war and there was growing unrest.

He contacted some anarchist buddies in Italy 
and set about editing an anarchist paper 
called Volonta  from London which was to be 
distributed in Ancona, Italy.This was 
successful, but Malatesta could not keep 
himself from getting involved, and he came 
over to Italy.

What the police chief said
A good account of his activities is given by 
the police chief at the time. It is worth 
telling how we managed to get the account of 
the police chief. In the WWII, the Americans 
bombed an Ancona police station, which was 
destroyed. Two anarchists, while searching 
among the rubble found the police dossier on 
Malatesta which they then went and published. 
Here is a bit:

"Malatesta's return from London was the 
signal for a reawakening of the anarchist 
movement in Ancona....Malatesta immediately 
set about reorganising it. he made 
revolutionary propaganda at meetings and 
gatherings; by leaflets and through articles 
in the weekly journal Volonta of which he is 
the editor and which is the organ of the 
party.

.....In a short time in Ancona, anarchists 
and sympathisers number some 600 individuals 
consisting predominantly of dock porters, 
workers and criminal elements of the 
town.....

...he very frequently travels keeping in 
contact with the more prominent leaders and 
in constant touch with the other anarchist 
groups.. his qualities as an intelligent, 
combative speaker who seeks to persuade with 
calm, and never with violent, language, are 
used to the full to revive the already spent 
forces of the party and to win converts and 
sympathisers, never losing sight of his 
principle goal which is to draw together the 
forces of the party and undermine the bases 
of the State, by hindering its workings, 
paralyse its services and doing anti-
militarist propaganda, until the favourable 
occasion arises to overturn and destroy the 
existing State"

What he was after was pretty clear, so clear 
that even the police chief understood it. At 
least 37 anarchist demos took place, that 
year, in the province, at which Malatesta 
took part.

Red Week
Agitatation had been going on elsewhere, and, 
after a proposal by the Trades Council of 
Ancona if was agreed to have a national demo, 
against disciplinary battalions, on the day 
commemorating the re-establishment of Italian 
unity and the Monarchy. The reason to have 
the demo on that day was because normally all 
the soldiers and police went on marches to 
celebrate that day. If they were all diverted 
because of the day of action it would have 
had a big impact and everyone would notice.

The relevant Minister, naturally, banned the 
demonstrations and, just as naturally, the 
demos went ahead. In Ancona the police over 
reacted and fired on a crowd going into the 
main square. 3 workers were killed and 20 
injured.

After the massacre, the gendarmes shat 
themselves, and rushed back to the barracks 
for shelter. The people were left masters of 
the town. There was an immediate general 
strike which spread all over Italy. This was 
the beginning of the 'red week'.

The two main unions and the Railwaymens Union 
called a general strike. I will not go into 
this in much detail, but it could be a good 
subject for a talk sometime. The week 
involved strikes, and demos, which in turn 
led to conflicts with police and more 
killings. This pushed things further and in 
many places, autonomous communes were 
proclaimed.

As the situation developed, and people 
started reorganising society on socialist 
lines, the reformist union called the strike 
off. This split the movement and the 
government were able to move in and begin to 
restore order. Still it was pretty 
impressive.

World War I
When World War I broke out, Malatesta was 
back in London again. The anarchist movement 
split over whether or not to take sides. A 
small minority, but one which contained many 
influential voices, including Kropotkin, 
wanted to support the Allied side (France, 
Russia and Britain) against the Germans. 
Kropotkin, who had been an anti-militarist 
before the war, wrote:

' an anti-militarist propagandist ought never 
to join the anti-militarist agitation without 
taking in his inner self a solemn vow that in 
case a war breaks out, notwithstanding all 
efforts to prevent it, he will give the full 
support of his action to the country that 
will be invaded by a neighbour, whosoever the 
neighbour may be. Because, if the anti-
militarists remain mere onlookers on the war, 
they support by their inaction the invaders; 
they help them to become still stronger, and 
thus to be a still stronger obstacle to the 
Social Revolution in the future"

Malatesta totally disagreed with this, and 
wrote that what anti-militarism means is that 
you never take up arms for your masters and 
that you only fight for the social 
revolution. He pointed out that it is 
impossible to work out who the aggressor is 
in a war such as World War I.  If you ask 
people to fight against the aggressor in a 
war you are as good as asking them to just 
obey the orders of your respective 
governments, who will tell you that it is the 
other side who is the aggressor.

It is worth repeating that anarchists who 
wanted to take sides in World War I were a 
minority, albeit a vocal one. After the war, 
Kropotkin returned to Russia and found 
himself alienated from the revolutionary 
left. In contrast, Malatesta returned to 
Italy in 1919, in triumph.

The remaining years that Malatesta spent in 
Italy after 1919 are regarded as his most 
productive, even though this period also 
marked the defeat of the working class of 
Italy by the steadily growing fascists under 
Mussolini.

Umanita Nova
As before, Malatesta edited a paper. This 
time it was an anarchist daily, called 
Umanita Nova . He travelled the country 
addressing meetings and trying to bring 
together all the revolutionary elements in 
the Socialist and republican parties, and in 
the Trade Union movement, to fight against 
fascism.

He tried to bring together a huge movement 
which had in its ranks anarchists of all 
sorts, including those types who are anti 
organisation. The object of the movement was 
to fight against fascism. They failed in this 
aim, of course, but so did the Socialists, 
communists and trades unions.

During this time anarchists were subject to 
regular attacks by young fascist thugs. 
Despite this, the paper sold 50,000 copies 
daily. The revolutionary syndicalist union  
had a membership of more than 500,000.  They 
were also harassed by the new Communist 
Party, which tried to destroy all the the 
left wing that was not allied to it.

Rise of fascism
But the anarchists could not get it together 
and they slowly lost ground along with the 
rest of the working class. In July 1921 a 
general strike, which turned out to be a last 
gasp effort, was called by the anti fascist 
'Workers alliance' - which the anarchist 
helped to set up. It was only partly 
effective.

It became harder and harder to sell the 
paper. Eventually the paper could only be 
sold in Rome, all other papers were seized or 
burnt by vigilantes. It became a weekly paper 
in August 1922 and Mussolini's march on Rome 
took place 2 months later in October 1922.  
It was around this time that the authorities 
closed down the paper for good.

Malatesta was now 70, he could not carry on 
in politics in that climate so he went back 
to his day job as an electrician mechanic.

A few years later he again tried publishing, 
this time the Pensiero e Volonta a which 
again lasted a few years. It was theoretical 
and fortnightly. But the censor banned 
theoretical magazines in 1926 and Malatesta 
was finally silenced in Italy for good.

Gruesome death
He now had six years to live and he spent 
them in Rome under house arrest. The police 
set up a permanent post in the porch of his 
house. Anybody who tried to visit him was 
arrested, and when Malatesta went out, 
anybody who tried to approach him was 
arrested. The bronchial problems which had 
dogged him all his life finally caught up on 
him in 1932 when he died slowly and 
painfully.

His Ideas
Malatesta was an anarchist communist. He was 
a supporter of Bakunin in the first 
International. He objected to Kropotkin on 
the First World War issue but also on 
Kropotkin's theory of a spontaneous 
revolution, ie that a revolution would happen 
spontaneously. 

He believed in action as well as words and 
had a significant part in the conception and 
organisation of the general strike that led 
to "Red Week" in Italy in 1914, even though 
he had already left the country when it 
happened.

However, when the "Platform of the 
Libertarian communists" came out in 1926, 
Malatesta criticised it for being;

"one step away from Bolshevism"

and an attempt to;

"Bolshevise anarchism"

He also, as I mentioned before, criticised 
Bakunin for being too much of a Marxist.

On reading his pamphlet, "Anarchy"  I find 
what is published to be very theoretical, 
wordy, but at the same time he makes 
interesting points. It may be that the only 
stuff that is translated into English is the 
theoretical writings, on the grounds that the 
rest would not be so relevant as time passes 
on.

The Freedom Book on Malatesta "Malatesta Life 
and Ideas"  published in 1984 also contains 
soley theoretical articles, some of which are 
repeated in the pamphlet that I just 
mentioned as well. Typical subjects are 
"Anarchism and Science"  and "Anarchism and 
Freedom"  and "Anarchism and Violence" which 
you can predict by the titles what they are 
going to say. Still, articles like these make 
a good introduction to anarchism for the new 
reader.

In "An anarchist programme"   , which is 
another article in the book, Malatesta sets 
out what anarchists should do. He first gives 
a list of what we are against; capitalism; 
what we are for; anarchism; and how to get 
there. It is in how to get a revolution, and 
how to act in day to day politics that I 
would have most problems with him.

Malatesta wanted to work with all anarchists, 
anarchists that believe in organisation as 
well as those that did not. This obviously 
covers just about anybody who calls 
themselves an anarchist. For these reasons 
they would be very limited in the actions 
they could take. They would also be doomed to 
splits and disintegration in a short time as 
their real differences came to a head. 

This happened in Italy where it seems that in 
the period 1913-14 and 1919-22 the main thing 
that stuck the anarchists together was 
Malatesta himself. The anarchist movement had 
been destroyed by splits and defections to 
bourgeois parties. He certainly  re-started 
the movements at those times and seemed to be 
the driving force and main guru.

Conclusion
So in conclusion, Malatesta led an inspiring 
life, he was dedicated to the cause and he 
gave his life to it. He lived through 
exciting times; the Paris Commune, the First 
International, World War I and the rise of 
fascism.

He was the editor of numerous anarchist 
papers and was a prolific writer and 
agitator. And despite his antagonisms towards 
platformism he was a great organiser and was 
able to inspire and lead whole movements 
around him. I hope this talk has let people 
know more about him which in some way will 
contribute to keeping his memory alive. 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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