1894: Sante Geronimo Caserio, anarchist assassin
August 16th, 2008 Headsman
On this date in 1894, Sante Geronimo Caserio was guillotined in Lyon, where he had assassinated the president of France two months before.
In the day when the terror stalking European order brandished the black flag of anarchy, the Italian immigrant Caserio (his first name can be rendered either Sante or Santo, and his middle name alternately as Jeronimo, Ironimo or Heironymus) escalated the “propaganda of the deed” into the nightmares of Europe’s executives.
Retaliating for the executions of two previous anarchists, August Vaillant and Emile Henry, Caserio (English Wikipedia entry | Italian | French) stepped up to the carriage of Marie Francois Sadi Carnot on the night of June 24-25 and efficiently planted a dagger in his heart.
Before the decade was out, the Prime Minister of Spain, the King of Italy and the Empress of Austria-Hungary would all likewise be murdered by Italian anarchists.
As one might imagine, Caserio played the role of cocksure martyr to the hilt: asked whether he repented, he vowed to kill another president if given a few minutes; he refused to pursue a mental illness defense or inform on comrades; and at the guillotine, he exhorted the onlookers, “Forza, compagni! Viva l’anarchia!” (The New York Times account of the beheading recounts Caserio’s background, from an obviously hostile class position.)
By the time Caserio lost his head, the propaganda of his deed had already provoked mass arrests of Italians, and a tightening of the lois scelerates (“villainous laws”) cracking down on dissidents.
But as always, one person’s evildoer is another’s hero, and Caserio has his online monuments — like this Italian page, or this blog entry, or this rendition of one of the several songs in his honor:
In an artsier vein, one can also follow the thread of the story to Les Bal des Innocents, a downloadable French production billing itself as “The first feature film under Creative Commons Licence.”
On this day..
- 1820: Rebecca Worlock, arsenic poisoner - 2020
- 1794: Charles-Louis Richard - 2019
- 1704: Roland Laporte, posthumously, and five aides, humously - 2018
- 1943: Gunnar Eilifsen, good cop - 2017
- 1944: Fusilles de la Cascade du Bois de Boulogne - 2016
- 1817: Not Hall or Read, prosecuted for blood-money - 2015
- 1883: Ah Yung - 2014
- 2001: Jeffrey Doughtie, "It started with a needle and it is ending with a needle" - 2013
- 1527: Leonhard Kaiser, Lutheran - 2012
- 1851: Col. William Logan Crittenden, nephew of the Attorney General - 2011
- 1878: Max Hödel - 2010
- 1972: Mohamed Oufkir - 2009
Entry Filed under: 19th Century,Assassins,Beheaded,Capital Punishment,Cycle of Violence,Death Penalty,Execution,Famous Last Words,France,Guillotine,History,Murder,Notable for their Victims,Public Executions,Revolutionaries
Tags: 1894, anarchism, anarchist, anarchists, anarchy, august 16, auguste vaillant, emile henry, les bal des innocents, lyon, marie francois sadi carnot, propaganda of the deed, sante geronimo caserio, sante jeronimo caserio
Rest in Peace.
complete chad. RIP KIng
La liberté n’a pas de prix.elle vaut tous les sacrifices
Anyone who would go out and murder a leader of a country should be put to death. I think Caserio got exactly what he deserved.
Reading Caserio’s words at his trial, understanding that the seeds of violence are sown alongside the briars of poverty, and studying how the powerful have historically kept the poor in poverty and ignorance, it’s not surprising that human beings lash out at times, even against those deemed above the law.