Abate to Aguilera

Erasmo Abate (aka Hugo Roland)

Born 1895, Formia, Italy. Construction worker, house painter. Immigrated to US in 1912. Anarchist; in Philadelphia secretary of anarcho-syndicalist Union of Italian Workers and edited La Comune (1911-1915) and La Conquista (1920-1921). Deported 1922; wife and child remained in US. In Italy, sent by Errico Malatesta to aid antifascist movement in Ancona, where helped lead local section of the armed antifascist organization Arditi del Popolo. Arrested and fled to Paris, where member of the exiled Italian antifascist Comitato di Azione and key figure in the “Garibaldi Affair,” a plot to assassinate Mussolini and invade Italy led by Ricciotti Garibaldi, but Abate withdrew in 1925, shortly before Garibaldi was revealed to by an agent of Mussolini. In 1926 Abate illegally returned to the US under the name Hugo Roland and rejoined his family; in Chicago edited Germinal (1926), then settled in Michigan. Remained an active anarchist in the US until his death in 1977.

INS file 55009/80; CPC busta 1

See also Hugo Rolland Papers, International Institute for Social History

Jacob Abrams (Yankel Abramovsky; Jack Abrams)

Jacob Abrams, 1921

Born 1883, Uman, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Bookbinder. Immigrated to US in 1908. Anarchist; union militant; member of New York Jewish anarchist groups Shturem and Frayhayt. Wife Mary Domsky, fellow anarchist and survivor of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Arrested with other group members in 1918 for writing and distributing fliers opposing US intervention in Russian Civil War. Deported 1921 after losing landmark Supreme Court free-speech case Abrams v. United States. In Russia, opened a steam laundry (a skill he had learned in US federal prison ) and worked for anarcho-syndicalist publishing house Golos Truda, but quickly became disillusioned and left for Paris with Mary in 1925, then the couple moved to Mexico City in 1926, where they joined the Spanish anarchist exiled group Tierra y Libertad, and also befriended Leon Trotsky. 1939 cofounded Yiddish newspaper Di Shtime in Mexico City. Contracted cancer in 1945 and in 1952 allowed to temporarily enter US for medical treatment under FBI supervision. Died 1953 in Mexico.

INS file 54517/79

See also Richard Polenberg, Fighting Faiths: The Abrams Case, the Supreme Court, and Free Speech; The J. Abrams Book: The Life and Work of an Exceptional Personality, trans. Ruth Murphy, ed. Brian Moen

Mikhail Abrosimov (Михаил Абросимов; Michael Abrossemoff)

Born 1901, Petrograd, Russia. Polish. Seaman, laborer. In Russia, had been a socialist and served four years in prison for “wrecking a house of prostitution.” Immigrated to US 1916. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in New York. Arrested and beaten during November 1919 Palmer Raids. Deported 1919 on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/453

Veniamin Afanasevich (Вениамин Афанасьевич; Benjamin; Afansievich; aka Benjamin Ptashetchnik)

Born 1897, Vilna, Russia (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania). Carpenter. Immigrated to US 1916. Polish. Member of the Union of Russian Workers in New York, as was his brother. Arrested and beaten during November 1919 Palmer Raids. Deported 1919 on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/277

Crescencio Lopez Aguilera

Born 1889, Mexico. Miner. Immigrated to US 1907. Divorced, one daughter. Anarchist, member of Partido Liberal Mexicano. Treasurer of anarchist group “Los Errantes” (affiliated with the Partido Liberal Mexicano) in Morenci, Arizona; corresponded with Ricardo Flores Magón’s wife, María Broussé. Deported 1919. Still contributing funds to anarchist publications in Mexico as of 1929.

INS file 54709/70; FBI file OG 360538

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