1893 in Italy

[Kingdom of Italy]

• Monarch – Umberto I
• Prime Minister –
• # Giovanni Giolitti
• # Francesco Crispi

  Events

January

• January 18 – An official report confirms the serious state of affairs in the Banca Romana: a deficiency of cash, cooked accounts, a note circulation of 135 million lire instead of the 75 million permitted by law, a great quantity of bad debts due to building speculation. The next day the governor of the bank, Bernardo Tanlongo, and several of his subordinates are arrested.
• January 20 – Caltavuturo massacre in Caltavuturo in the Province of Palermo, where local authorities killed 13 and wounded 21 peasants that occupied communal land they claimed was theirs. The claim for land reform was one of the demands of the Fasci Siciliani.

  February

• February 1 – Murder of Emanuele Notarbartolo, former mayor of Palermo and former director general of the Banco di Sicilia by the Sicilian Mafia. Raffaele Palizzolo, a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, was regarded as the mastermind of the assassination. The series of trials over the following decade split Sicilian society in two and astonished public opinion. The conviction of Palizzolo in August 1902, would be hailed as a big blow against the Mafia. The Assize Court in Bologna convicted Palizzolo and two others to 30 years of imprisonment.

  March

• March 20 – Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti presents a bill to reorganize the banking system.
• March 21 – Due to the Banca Romana scandal, the Chamber of Deputy's approves a proposal to establish a Commission of Inquiry on banks.

  May

• May 21–22 – Congress of the Fasci Siciliani in Palermo attended by 500 delegates from nearly 90 leagues and socialist circles.
• May 22 – The President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Giuseppe Zanardelli, urges King Umberto I not to accept the resignation of Giolitti. Giolitti agrees to reconstruct the government with Senator Gagliardo as Finance Minister.

  August

• August 10 – A new Bank Act liquidates the Banca Romana and reforms the whole system of note issue, restricting the privilege to the new Banca d'Italia – mandated to liquidate the Banca Romana – and to the Banco di Napoli and the Banco di Sicilia, and providing for stricter state control.
• August 16–17 – Massacre of Italian workers of the Compagnie des Salins du Midi in Aigues-Mortes by French villagers and workers. The New York Times, reporting from the trial of ringleaders later in the year, reported that "ten men were killed and twenty-six wounded". Anti-French riots erupt in Italy. In Rome the windows of the French Embassy were smashed and for a while the angry mob seemed to get out of hand.

  September

• September 8 – While in Sicily the Fasci are spreading, in Reggio Emilia the Italian Workers' Party is celebrating its second congress and decides to adopt the name of Italian Socialist Party.

  November

• November 23 – At the opening of the Italian Parliament, the Italian Chamber of Deputies insists that the sealed report of the commission that investigated the Banca Romana scandal will be read immediately. Amidst increasing disorder the report is read and the conclusions of the commission that former Prime Minister Crispi, Prime Minister Giolitti, and former Finance Minister Luigi Luzzatti, had been aware of the conditions of the Banca Romana but had held back that information, is hailed with shouts for the resignation of Giolitti. Rival deputies exchange insults and push and pull each other over seats and desks over a dispute to impeach the government. While the President of the Chamber, Giuseppe Zanardelli, and the minister left the session, deputies refused orders to leave until the light was turned off at 10:00 PM and opposition deputies were cheered by a large crowd on the street.
• November 24 – The government headed by Giovanni Giolitti has to resign as a result of the Banca Romana scandal after the Chamber presented the report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry on banks. The Commission concluded that press charges that Giolitti had used the bank's money in the last election campaign could not been proved although it declined to affirm that was disproved.
• November 27 – Giuseppe Zanardelli, President of the Chamber of Deputies, is charged with the formation of a new Cabinet.

  December

• December 4 – Zanardelli partly forms a new Cabinet but Paolo Boselli refuses to accept the Finance Ministry. Most observers predict Zanardelli will not obtain a majority.
• December 10 – Eleven people are killed in Giardinello during the revolt of the Fasci Siciliani.
• December 15 – The new government headed by Francesco Crispi takes office.
• December 21 – Battle of Agordat between Italian colonial troops and Mahdists from the Sudan. Emir Ahmed Ali campaigned against the Europeans in eastern Sudan. The Italian victory is the first decisive victory yet won by Europeans against the Sudanese revolutionaries.
• December 25 – Eleven people are killed in Lercara Friddi during the revolt of the Fasci Siciliani. In December 1893, 92 peasants lost their lives in clashes with the police and army.

  Sports

• September 7 – The Genoa Cricket & Athletics Club, the oldest Italian soccer club, is formed by British expatriates. In its earliest years, it principally competed in athletics and cricket. Association football was secondarily practised.

  Births

• January 11 – Tancredi Pasero, Italian bass singer
• January 26 – Giuseppe Genco Russo, Italian Mafia boss from Mussomeli
• February 12 – Giovanni Muzio, Italian architect closely associated with Novecento Italiano
• March 9 – Alessio De Paolis, Italian opera tenor
• March 14 – Franco Lo Giudice, Italian tenor
• March 18 – Costante Girardengo, Italian professional road bicycle racer
• March 24 – Gastone Brilli-Peri, Italian racing driver
• March 26 – Palmiro Togliatti, Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party
• March 27 – Ugo Agostoni, Italian professional road bicycle racer
• April 13 – Augusto De Marsanich, Italian fascist politician and leader of the Italian Social Movement
• April 21 – Romeo Bertini, Italian Marathon runner
• May 12 – Silvio Scaroni, Italian World War I fighter pilot
• June 27 – Antonietta Meneghel, Italian soprano better known by her stage name Toti Dal Monte
• July 1 – Mario de Bernardi, Italian World War I fighter pilot and seaplane air racer of the 1920s
• July 25 – Carlo Confalonieri, Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
• August 31 – Francesco Jacomoni di San Savino, Italian diplomat and governor of Albania before and during World War II
• September 12 – Giuseppe Castellano, Italian general who negotiated the Armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces on September 8, 1943
• October 17 – Raffaele Bendandi, Italian pseudoscientist known for his predictions of earthquakes
• November 2 – Battista Farina, Italian automobile designer
• November 14 – Leonarda Cianciulli, Italian serial killer
• November 14 – Carlo Emilio Gadda, Italian writer and poet
• November 19 – Checco Durante, Italian film actor
• November 30 – Ettore Margadonna, Italian screenwriter

  Deaths

• April 17 – Giovanni Passerini, Italian botanist and entomologist
• May 11 – Tommaso Maria Zigliara, Roman Catholic cardinal, theologian and philosopher
• July 16 – Antonio Ghislanzoni, Italian politician and journalist
• July 5 – Antonio Superchi Italian opera baritone
• August 7 – Alfredo Catalani, Italian composer
• October 16 – Carlo Pedrotti, Italian conductor and composer
• October 23 – Luigi Nazari di Calabiana, Italian churchman and politician; a senator of the Kingdom of Sardinia and Archbishop of Milan
• October 28 – Angelo Minich, pathologist and professor of surgery at the University of Padua
• November 2 – Carlo Laurenzi Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church