I have to confess to having never heard of the Italian brigand Guiseppe Nicola Summa, aka ‘Ninco Nanco’ until I was told about him by Antonella, a Skull reader in Italy. His story is one of violence and revenge – woe betide anyone getting on the wrong side of Summa and his men:
…troops who tried to lead him to surrender. The corpses were discovered days later: Pulusella was found with his hands cut off; Capoduro was beheaded, his head was found on a rock with a stone between his teeth and on his body a cross of Savoy was engraved.”
A man of contradictions, the incredibly violent Summa gave to the church and to the poor, and also helped his poverty-stricken sisters. He was also evidently a pragmatist, telling his men not to target the poor as it didn’t make financial sense to rob those who had nothing to begin with.
Summa was killed just before his thirty first birthday in Avigliano, Basilica, the town of his birth, shot twice in the throat by Italian guards. It is thought probable that the killing was carried out on the orders of a senior officer who had previously collaborated with Summa and who was now fearful of his connection being found out.
There is little information on Summa/Ninco Nanco available in English, but further details can be found here (Wikipedia). For those who read Italian, more detailed information can be found here.
The tale of Ninco Nanco was included in a ‘stories for boys’ style anthology called ‘Foxholme Hall and other Tales’ written by William Henry Giles Kingston and published in 1867. Kingston’s book is currently free for the Kindle – click here to view on Amazon UK , or here for Amazon.com
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