Gennaro Rubino - Early Life

Early Life

Rubino was born in Bitonto, during the period of Italian unification. While serving in the Italian army as a young man, Rubino was condemned to five years detention for writing a subversive newspaper article. In 1898, he was arrested again during bread riots in Milan. Rather than serving a lengthy prison sentence, Rubino fled the country. He first took up residence in Glasgow, Scotland and then moved to London. He was unable to find work, however, until offered assistance by the Italian Embassy. He was then employed by the Italian Secret Service to spy on anarchist organizations in London. He was dismissed from the job, however, once embassy officials discovered that he sympathized with the anarchists.

In May 1902, Rubino's employment with the Italian Secret Service was uncovered, and he was denounced by the international anarchist press as a spy. Evidently, Rubino then resolved to commit an assassination in order to prove his allegiance to the anarchist cause. As he wrote in a letter to his former comrades, "perhaps tomorrow or after, I will be able to prove my rebellion in a manner more consistent with my and your aspirations." According to later police interrogations, he considered killing King Edward VII, but decided against it due to the strong feeling of the English people in favour of the monarchy. Instead he chose King Leopold II of Belgium.