Difference between revisions of "Arturo Giovannitti"

Latest revision as of 11:55, 26 November 2008

1912 arrest, Giovannitti right, with Ettor and Joseph Caruso

Arturo M. Giovannitti (january 7 1884 - October 31 1959) was an Italian-American union leader, anarchist, socialist and poet, an immigrant from Italy who entered the United States in 1901. He was born in Ripabottoni, in what is now the Province of Campobasso, Italy, at the time part of the Abruzzi, but now part of Molise. In New York City, he studied in Union Theological Seminary.

He and Joseph Ettor led the textile mill strikers at Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912 at which a striker, Anna LoPizzo, was shot and killed. Giovannitti and Ettor were arrested and imprisoned on the charge of inciting to a riot leading to the loss of life. They were tried and acquitted in November, 1912. At the time of the trial, a 24-hour general strike was called in Lawrence. Their imprisonment attracted nationwide attention and inspired activists who called for the guaranteeing of free speech.

Giovanitti wrote Arrows in the Gale, a volume of verse, which was published in 1914. He also translated, and wrote the introduction to the American edition of Emile Pouget's lengthy pamphlet, "Sabotage".

External links[edit]

• Industrial Workers of the World
• The Walker (Poem & further links) at the Stan Iverson Memorial Library