Short piece on libertarian socialist Teo Rabitti, derived substantially from records of the Register of Subversives.
Place of birth: Florence
Date of birth: January 1, 1869
Place of death: Bologna
He was born in Florence in 1869 to Giuseppe and Argia Batoli, a newsagent. After moving to Bologna, he came into contact with the anarchist movement of which he became one of the most influential elements. Specially observed by the forces of law and order, he is described in the Register of Subversives as follows: 'violent and daring in character, he is one of the most fanatical and dangerous anarchists in Bologna. He is a blind instrument in the hands of the most educated comrades. He receives pamphlets from his comrades and spreads them. He is in correspondence with anarchists in other cities. He suffered convictions for outrages against public order agents. He shows a desire to learn the French language. In 1894 he was denounced along with others for incitement to hatred between social classes and apologia for acts qualified by law as crimes. He is awaiting trial'. He was forcibly banished several times, serving his time on the island of Ponza (1896), Pantelleria (1898) and the Tremiti islands (1901). He always remained faithful to the idea of anarchy, even placing himself in polemic with the legalitarian socialists, whom he defined as 'good bourgeois' and 'enemies' of the libertarians. "The bourgeois-now-socialists, having expropriated the new ideas, and recognising that only with these can they triumph, attempt every deception by claiming to be brothers of the proletariat, while angrily opposing the true socialists who are the defenders of the only way left for the people to redeem their dignity and their future: libertarian socialism".
Sources: Archivio di Stato Bologna, Gabinetto Prefettura, Registro rubrica degli affiliati ai partiti sovversivi [1895-96], see name.
Bibliography: Ai 13 condannati dal Tribunale!, in E. Insabato, Fallimento. Retroscena del socialismo contemporaneo, Bologna 1898.
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