Click on the image then:
A=zoom in Z=zoom
out ESC=default
The duel Cavallotti - Macola
Felice Cavallotti was born in Milan on 6 October 1842. A vivacious personality and brilliant brain, when he was still at school he showed an interest in politics and journalism. In 1860, before he turned eighteen, he left school and ran away from home to join Garibaldi’s army and fought at Milazzo. After his Garibaldi experience he forged a career in journalism and was so fiery and controversial that he was taken to court, arrested, placed under restraint and sentenced many times, but he also made a name for himself.
Known for his loyalty to the republic, in 1873 he was elected deputy of the Radical Party, and began a parliamentary career that lasted twenty-five years. From the seats of Parliament, Cavallotti proved to be one of the best orators in the Chamber and was in the limelight for his political commitment in favour of electoral reform. From 1885 onwards, he gained great political popularity, which was increased by the many duels he fought because of his verbal attacks on his opponents.
It was, in fact, his thirty-third duel, that put an end to Felice Cavallotti’s career and his life. It was provoked by the editor of the Gazzettino di Venezia, Ferruccio Macola, who had formerly been a great admirer of Cavallotti. After being elected deputy, Macola repeatedly clashed with his old friend, accusing him in the pages of the Gazzettino, of taking up ambiguous political positions. They both adamantly refused to make peace and agreed to fight a duel.
Macola’s seconds insisted that the duel should be fought with sabres and gauntlets. It took place in the park of the Countess Cellere’s villa in Rome on the afternoon of 6 March 1898 and only lasted a few minutes. Macola, twenty years younger than his opponent, taller and more expert at using a sabre, protected by his leather gauntlet defended himself well from his opponent’s thrusts. On the third attack, Cavallotti was wounded in the mouth by the point of Macola’s sabre. The weapon went through the space left by his incisors that he had lost in a previous duel and severed his carotid.
Sabres and gauntlet
used in the duel between Cavallotti and Macola. The second sabre from the right with the bent tip killed Cavallotti
Provenance: Rome, Public Prosecutor’s Office, 1934
A drawing from life of the duel.
Cavallotti, wounded in the carotid, about to collapse
