Severino Di Giovanni (17 March 1901 – 1 February 1931) was an Italian anarchist who immigrated to Argentina, where he became the best-known anarchist figure in that country for his campaign of violence in support of Sacco and Vanzetti and antifascism.
Italy
Di Giovanni was born on 17 March 1901, in Chieti, Abruzzo. Raised right after World War I in a period of deprivations, such as hunger and poverty, his upbringing had a huge impact on his politics. He followed courses to become a teacher, and soon started teaching, before graduating, in a school in his town. He was self taught in the art of typography and read, in his free time, Mikhail Bakunin, Malatesta, Proudhon, and Élisée Reclus.
Arrival in Argentina
Di Giovanni arrived in Buenos Aires with the last big wave of Italian immigrants before World War II. He lived in Morón and travelled daily to Buenos Aires Capital to participate in meetings and plan actions against fascism and Italian fascist supporters in Argentina.
An anarchist, Di Giovanni had nothing but contempt for the party in power, the UCR, which he saw as a pale reflection of more right-wing and fascist elements in Argentine politics. Severino Di Giovanni's first direct action took place on 6 June 1925, during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Victor Emmanuel III's accession to the Italian throne, which took place at the Teatro Colón. President Alvear, his wife, opera singer Regina Pacini, and Count Luigi Aldrovandi Marescotti, ambassador of Fascist Italy, were present at the act, as well as numerous Black shirts put in place by Marescotti to prevent any disorder. When the orchestra started the Italian hymn, Giovanni and his companions threw leaflets around, at the cries of "Assassins! thieves!" The Blackshirts managed to overcome them, and hand them over to the police.
Culmine, Sacco and Vanzetti, and Propaganda of the Deed
After being quickly released, Di Giovanni took part in international protests against the arrest and trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, members of the Galleanist anarchist group, who were accused of a robbery and murder of two payroll guards. At the time, Di Giovanni was one of the most active anarchists in Argentina defending the two Italian immigrants, writing in various newspapers, including his own, founded in August 1925 and titled Culmine, and in the New York publication L' Adunata dei refrattari. Culmine advocated direct action and propaganda of the deed. Di Giovanni worked at it at nighttime, supporting his activism and family by working in factories and as a typesetter. He summarized Culmine objectives:
To spread anarchist ideals among Italian workers; To fight the propaganda of pseudo-revolutionary political parties, which use fake anti-fascism as a tool for winning political elections; To start anarchist agitation among Italian workers and keep anti-fascism alive; To interest Italian workers in Argentina in protest and expropriation; To establish an intense and active collaboration between anarchist groups, isolated partners and the regional anarchist movement.
On 16 May 1926, several hours after Sacco and Vanzetti's death sentence was announced, Di Giovanni bombed the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires, destroying the front of the building. The following day, President Alvear ordered several police searches of those suspected in the attack, and the police requested assistance from the Italian embassy in order to identify suspects. The embassy immediately named Giovanni, who had disturbed the celebrations of the Teatro Colón. He was soon arrested by the police and tortured for 5 days, but would not provide information. Di Giovanni was released for lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, the defense counsel for Sacco and Vanzetti managed to postpone their executions until 23 August 1927. A movement in support of the Galleanist anarchists continued to agitate for their pardon and release. On 21 July 1927, the U.S. embassy published an article in the conservative newspaper La Nación, which described the two Italian anarchists as common criminals. On the following day, Di Giovanni and two of his anarchist comrades, Alejandro and Paulino Scarfó, blew up a statue of George Washington in Palermo, Buenos Aires, and several hours later, exploded a bomb at the Ford Motor Company. Confronted with evidence of anarchist involvement in the bombings, on 15 August 1927, Eduardo Santiago, the Federal Police officer in charge of the investigation, claimed that everything was under control and that no anarchist in the world would defeat him. On the following day, Santiago barely escaped from the bombing of his house by Di Giovanni and his group, having gone to buy cigarettes a few minutes before.