Giobbe Sanchini

Born 1887, Sant’Angelo in Lizzola, Italy. Mason. Became an anarchist at a young age. 1902 migrated to Switzerland; returned to Italy 1906. Migrated to US 1911. Settled in New Britain, Connecticut. Became close associate of Luigi Galleani and distributor of Cronaca Sovversiva. 1913 married fellow anarchist Irma Cassolino. Arrested September 8, 1917, after starting defense fund for Galleani; warrant canceled; arrested again May 16, 1918. When asked why he should not be deported, he replied: “My reasons are as follows: That every person has the right to live wherever he desires without being molested in a state that is called [a] democracy and, when a state ceases to be democratic it then embodies the term ‘tyranny’ and in that case we no longer enjoy liberty.” Deported June 24, 1919, with pregnant wife and American-born son and daughter. In Italy, immediately imprisoned for evading military service; 1922 charges dropped. Joined “Novatore” anarchist group in Pesaro; published anarchist newspaper La Frusta in Pesaro and then Fano from 1919 to 1922. 1925 Irma died in childbirth. 1926 Giobbe sent American-born children, Inga and Emo, to live with Irma’s father in the US, but was unable to ever rejoin them. Giobbe kept under surveillance until 1942. 1930s supervised a pasta factory, then worked as a bricklayer and then a public works supervisor; 1933 remarried. No radical activity noted by Fascist authorities, who claimed that he had “a favorable attitude towards the regime.” However, according to other government reports as well as his family members, Sanchini “always believed in anarchism,” and after the fall of Fascism he tried to revive La Frusta in 1946. He also remained in contact with Italian anarchists in the US up until his death. Died in Pesaro, December 1951.

INS file 54235/52; CPC busta 4562

See also: Maurizio Antonioli et al., Dizionario biografico degli anarchici italiani; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America; Richard Lenzi, Facing Toward the Dawn: The Italian Anarchists of New London; Edoardo Puglielli, Il movimento anarchico abruzzese 1907-1957; Il Fondo L’Adunata Collection, Boston Public Library; Ugo Fedeli Papers, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam

Irma Sanchini (née Cassolino)

Born 1895, Tonco, Piedmont, Italy. Housewife. Migrated to US 1907 with father. Settled in New Britain, Connecticut. Became close associate of Luigi Galleani and distributor of Cronaca Sovversiva. 1913 married fellow anarchist Giobbe Sanchini. Arrested September 8, 1917, after starting defense fund for Galleani; warrant canceled; arrested again May 16, 1918. Dubbed “Queen of the Anarchist” by some newspapers; the District Attorney hyperbolically claimed that she “accomplished untold mischief in the period that she has resided in Connecticut. She is highly intelligent, very resourceful, and is considered to be much more dangerous than her husband.” When asked by immigration agent, “What’s your idea of an anarchist?” she replied, “Well, my idea; a good man.” Deported June 24, 1919, with Giobbe and American-born son and daughter. Died 1925 in childbirth.

INS file 54235/52

See also: Boston Globe, June 20, 1919; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America; Richard Lenzi, Facing Toward the Dawn: The Italian Anarchists of New London

Ivan Sanko (Иван Санько; Iwan; Evan; Sinko; Sankio)

Born 1896, Minsk region, Russia (present-day Belarus?). Laborer. Migrated to US 1912. Joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in Youngstown, Ohio in January 1918; became its secretary. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Explained, “I read a great many Anarchistic books which put me in the notion of joining this Union,” and that he did “not care fro the Bolsheviks.” Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/184

Plácido Santamaría (Placidio; Santa Maria)

Born 1890, Burgos, Spain. Gunsmith; laborer. “Foundling” who was raised in an orphanage; 1912 cofounded Los Desamparados, “a group of young anarchists, lovers and enthusiasts of the emancipatory ideal” in Eibar. 1914 migrated to Scotland and Wales; from there migrated to US 1916. Member of Los Corsarios Group which published anarchist paper El Corsario. One of 14 members arrested in New York, February 1919, by Secret Service on baseless allegations of plotting to assassinate President Wilson. All charges dropped, but several members, including Santamaria, held for deportation as anarchists. Deported to England (the country from which he had sailed to US) July 5, 1919. Subsequent activities unknown, but in 1931 he donated money to Librado Rivera’s Mexican anarchist paper ¡Paso!

INS file 54616/79

See also: Tierra y Libertad (Barcelona), December 11, 1912; ¡Paso! (Mexico City), July 1, 1931

Turibbio Santarelli (Tribio; aka Giuseppe or Joseph Santarelli; Joseph Galligari)

Born 1899, Fano, Italy. Mechanic; laborer. Migrated to US 1911 with parents. 1916 joined the Socialist Party of America in Buffalo. That same year two American coworkers began insulting him in the washroom, saying,“To hell with the Socialists,” and calling him a “guinea” and “wop.” They then mentioned President Wilson, and Santarelli allegedly replied that Wilson “should be shot,” or “Somebody ought to kill him.” Arrested (only sixteen years old at the time) and interrogated by the Secret Service, but released on bail. Admitted to saying “I would rather serve four years in jail than two days in the army.” Subsequently (and implausibly) accused by confidential informants for the authorities of simultaneously 1) being secretary of an anarchist group called the Roma Club (which appears to have been simply an ethnic leisure association), 2) declaring himself to be “a Kaiser man” and stating “the Kaiser was the best man in the world,” 3) being offered money by a German agent to either kill government officials or blow up a bridge, 4) either being given or making a bomb for such a purpose, and 5) also being connected to the “Black Hand.” Rearrested 1919 for “advocating or teaching the assassination of public officials”; deported December 14, 1919. 1920 migrated to Canada; for several years he and his parents in the US petitioned the US government to allow his return, but denied. His mother died in New York in 1925; in 1926 he married Constance Yuraities in York, Ontario. In the 1930s subscribed to the US anarchist newspaper L’Adunata dei Refrattari.

INS file 54235/91; CPC busta 4582

Alex Sarchkoff (Savcakoff)

Born 1886, Mogliev, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1912. Machinist. Lived with wife Catherine in Detroit. Joined Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party in November 1919. Arrested January 1920. “Voluntarily departed” to Russia via Canada, October 30, 1920.

INS file 54859/671

Ivan Sarvas (Иван Сарвас; John)

Deported to Russia November 17, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G