Giovanni Noè

Giovanni Noè (29 April 1866 – 28 December 1908) was an Italian lawyer, anarchist and politician, involved in the Fasci Siciliani (Sicilian Leagues), a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration in 1891–1894. He was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1900 and 1904.

Biography After completing his classical studies, Noè graduated in law in his home town Messina, where he initially frequented radical groups, from which he broke away to join the socialist-anarchist movement. In January 1886, together with Francesco Lo Sardo and other young people, he formed the Amilcare Cipriani association and founded the periodical Il Riscatto (The Redemption), which published its programme in its first issue.

The paper – which ran, with some interruptions, until 15 November 1897 – was suspended in June 1886, when the judicial authorities dissolved the association and prevented its members from carrying out political activities. It resumed publication on 7 June 1887 under the direction of Noè, who managed to involve leading socialists such as Francesco Saverio Merlino, Nicola Barbato, Filippo Turati and Giuseppe De Felice Giuffrida. The association was soon broken up by personal disagreements, which led to the birth of the newspaper Il Vespro and caused serious organisational divisions in the Messina socialist movement.

He died as a result of the earthquake and tsunami of December 28, 1908, when the city of Messina was almost entirely destroyed killing between 75,000 and 82,000 people.