Caltavuturo massacre

The Caltavuturo massacre took place on January 20, 1893, in Caltavuturo in the Province of Palermo (Sicily), when during the celebration of Saint Sebastian, some 500 peasants returning from the symbolic occupation of 250 hectares of communal land were dispersed by soldiers and policemen, killing 13 and wounding 21 peasants. The claim for land reform was one of the demands of the Fasci Siciliani (Sicilian Leagues), a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration in 1891–1894.

Background

The 250 hectares of communal land had been ceded to the municipality of Caltavuturo by the Duke of Fernardina, owner of more than 6,000 hectares of land (more than half of the entire municipality) after 1812 – the year that feudalism was abolished in Sicily. Before the abolition of feudalism, the villagers had the right to go on estates to collect firewood and vegetables, but that right expired in 1812 arousing the ire of the entire population. The dispute about access to the land lasted for years, until an agreement was reached under which the duke agreed to cede 250 hectares to the municipality in exchange for giving up the 'communal rights'.

The citizens of Caltavuturo who waited anxiously to get hold of a piece of land to feed their families, fell from the frying pan into the fire. While the municipality had to distribute the land among the villagers, town administrators and notables stalled the distribution, because they wanted to appropriate the land personally. In the fall of 1892, with the advent of the Fasci Siciliani, the peasants were convinced that the distribution of the land was imminent and set aside grain to be used as seed. However, past mid-January 1893, nothing had been done to divide the land, risking that it could not be sown in time that year.

On the evening of January 19 a crowded meeting discussed what to do next.