Der Roman eines geborenen Verbrechers / Selbstbiographie des Strafgefangenen Antonino M...

Metadata

Gutenberg ID

22630

Title

Der Roman eines geborenen Verbrechers / Selbstbiographie des Strafgefangenen Antonino M...

Language

de

Book source

Project Gutenberg

Description max 80 words

A chilling first-person account by convicted criminal Antonino M., a self-proclaimed 'born criminal' and epileptic. Edited with a psychiatric report by Professor Silvio Venturi, this text explores the psychology of crime, the nature of the 'criminal type,' and the author's descent from impulsive violence to a paranoid, religiously conflicted state. It offers a raw, unfiltered look into the mind of a man who views himself as a victim of fate rather than a guilty party.

Summary up to 500 words

Published in 1894, *Der Roman eines geborenen Verbrechers* presents the autobiography of Antonino M., a man born in 1850 in southern Italy whose life was defined by a relentless cycle of violence and incarceration. The text serves a dual purpose: it is a sensational criminal biography and a scientific document analyzing the psychology of offenders. Edited by A.G. Bianchi and annotated by psychiatrist Professor Silvio Venturi, the work juxtaposes M.'s raw, delusional self-confessions with clinical observations regarding his epilepsy, paranoia, and what Venturi termed 'leiden Gigantismus' (passionate gigantism). M. recounts his descent into crime beginning at age seventeen, when he murdered a man to avenge a slight against his brother. Following a five-year sentence, he became a notorious member of the Camorra in Naples, engaging in further assaults and conspiracies. The narrative details his subsequent imprisonment during a cholera outbreak, where he survives a near-death experience marred by medical negligence and a mutiny among fellow prisoners. Throughout his story, M. oscillates between boasting of his criminal prowess and expressing deep, albeit delusional, piety. He consistently denies his guilt, framing his actions as the result of external forces or divine testing. The annotations reveal the stark reality behind M.'s claims, highlighting his mental instability and the 'criminal type' theory popular at the time, which sought to categorize offenders based on physical and psychological traits. The text explores the tension between the subjective experience of the criminal and the objective study of crime. M. describes his time in the army, where he continued his criminal lifestyle, and his eventual release, which he views with a mixture of fear and fatalism. The work concludes with M.'s final reflections, which are increasingly dominated by hallucinations and a sense of persecution, illustrating the tragic intersection of genius, madness, and depravity. Ultimately, the book stands as a critical examination of the criminal mind, challenging the notion of free will while documenting the brutal realities of the Italian penal system in the late 19th century.

LLM editorial rating

4.2/5

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Categories

• Psychology
• Biography