ELENA PURGATORIO; OR, A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GALLEANISTI
From The Transmetropolitan Review
Like most anarchist women, we know very little about Elena Purgatorio. She was born Elena Alfonsi on August 4, 1891 in the ancient town of Gualdo Tadino, nestled beneath the Perugian mountains in the center of the Italian peninsula. Along with thousands of others, Elena left Italy and immigrated across the Atlantic to the US, registering under her birth name at Ellis Island, New York on August 17, 1907. She was sixteen years old, and seemingly alone.