Gli Anarchici and Lombroso’s theory of political crime

Abstract

After more than a hundred years of condemnation due to its incoherence, methodological errors and hasty non-empirical opinions, the work of Cesare Lombroso still attracts the attention of numerous intellectuals. Being a prolific writer, in different languages, Lombroso explored various aspects and issues related to numerous criminal characteristics ranging from the physiognomy to the criminal, to medical and social aspects and eventually the spiritual dimension. Amongst these different issues the violence expressed by anarchist actors caught Lombroso’s attention and this interest reflected in writings like the Tre tribuni studiati da un alienista, Il delitto politico, L’uomo di genio, Delitti vecchi e delitti nuovi, Crime: Its Causes and Remedies, The Criminal Man (5th edition), and the two editions of Gli Anarchici. Though these studies were mainly written in Italian, Lombroso published his research on anarchism around the world in different languages, amongst those in English: ‘The Physiognomy of the Anarchists’, ‘Anarchistic Crimes and Their Causes’, ‘A Study of Luigi Luccheni: Assassin of the Empress of Austria’ and ‘Some Aspects of Crime’.