Luigi Lucheni

Luigi Lucheni (April 22, 1873 – October 19, 1910) was an Italian anarchist who assassinated the Austrian Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria (commonly referred to as Sisi) in 1898. Lucheni believed in propaganda by the deed, a philosophy advocating spreading beliefs through direct action.Born in Paris to an Italian mother and raised in an orphanage, he worked odd jobs before joining the Italian Army for three and a half years. After a successful stay in the military, he immigrated to Switzerland. During his life in Switzerland, he developed his anarchistic ideas.Lucheni sought to kill a member of what he felt was an elite and oppressive upper class, and he did not care which member of it he killed. In his diary, Lucheni penned, "How I would like to kill someonendash but it must be someone important so it gets in the papers."At first Lucheni decided that he would kill Philippe, Duke of Orleans, but due to the Duke's change of itinerary and the discovery of another royal being in town, he later settled for taking the life of Elisabeth. Elisabeth traveled with few bodyguards, as she was adored by the populace in general. It is generally held that while she was boarding a steamship to Montreux on September 10 1898 in Geneva, Lucheni stabbed her with a needle file (which is now part of the Vienna Sisi Museum's exhibition). Not realising she was hurt and wanting to board as quickly as possible, Elisabeth got to her feet straight way and walked onto the ship, where she later collapsed and died.At his trial, Lucheni openly admitted to his crime, and at the age of 25, was sentenced to life in prison. After his memoirs were confiscated by prison guards, he was found hanged in his cell by his belt on October 19, 1910, apparently a suicide.

Lucheni's assassination of Elisabeth gave rise to the International Conference of Rome for the Social Defense Against Anarchists held from November 24 to December 21, 1898. This conference agreed on a definition of anarchism as "any act that used violent means to destroy the organization of society".

References

* Brigitte Hamann: "Elisabeth: Kaiserin wieder Willen", Aquila, 1998, ISBN 9789639073272