Costa, Andrea

Born Nov. 30, 1851, in Imola; died there Jan. 19, 1910. Leader of the Italian labor movement; brilliant orator and writer on social and political questions.

Costa joined the labor movement in 1871 under the influence of the Paris Commune. He was one of the leaders of Italian anarchist organizations. The failure of anarchism, the successes of the Social Democratic Party, and the growth of the labor movement caused Costa to break with anarchism in the late 1870’s. Costa’s open letter “To My Friends From Romagna” (1879), in which he broke with anarchism, played an important role in bringing the crisis of the anarchist movement to a head and in forming a socialist party in Italy. Costa was one of the founders and leaders of the Revolutionary Socialist Party of Romagna (1881–91) and took part in the congresses of the Second International. He was elected a deputy to Parliament in 1882 and spoke out against Italian colonial expansion in the 1880’s. He was repeatedly brought to trial for his severely critical antigovernment stand, despite his position as a deputy. He became one of the leaders of the Italian Socialist Party in 1892.