 Italy's ``gentleman bandit,'' an affable anarchist who courteously robbed banks in the 1960s and 1970s, has died in prison of a heart attack on December 25 at the age of 62.
Horst Fantazzini conducted nonviolent stickups across northern Italy, often using a toy gun according to some stories, and won his nickname after sending roses to a bank teller who had fainted during a robbery. His not-so-gentlemanly 1973 jailbreak attempt was depicted in a 1999 Italian movie called ``Outlaw'' by Enzo Monteleone. Fantazzini wounded three guards and took two more hostages during the standoff. He died Tuesday in prison in Dozza, a suburb outside of the northern city of Bologna, after more than three decades in and out of jail and various escape attempts, a prison official said. He was enjoying ``semi-liberty,'' an alternative sentence which allows model prisoners to spend part of their time outside of jail, until last week when he was re-arrested while trying to rob a Bologna bank and put back in prison full-time. The ``gentleman bandit'' was born in Germany to an anarchist father and became a prominent figure in the Italian anarchist movement himself as well as a supporter of the ``Red Brigade'' extremist group that murdered former Prime Minister Aldo Moro. (Agencies) | 12月25日，意大利著名的"紳士大盜"霍斯特·凡塔齊尼因心臟病突發在獄中去世，終年62歲。這位看上去和藹可親的"紳士大盜"是一位無政府主義者，曾于二十世紀六、七十年代以一種非常特殊的紳士方式多次搶劫銀行。 凡塔齊尼一生用非暴力的方式"打劫"了意大利北部的大小銀行，據一些報道稱，他行動時經常使用一支玩具手槍。在一次打劫行動中，一名女出納員因驚嚇過度昏了過去，事后這位"紳士"竟然為這位小姐送去了玫瑰以表慰問，從此凡塔齊尼便得了"紳士大盜"這個雅號。 但是凡塔齊尼1973年的那次越獄行動可就不那么紳士了。在那次越獄行動中，凡塔齊尼打傷了3名看守，在與警方的僵持過程中還挾持了2名人質。1999年，意大利導演恩佐·孟泰萊恩內將凡塔齊尼的這次越獄行動改編為電影，取名《亡命之徒》（"Outlaw"）。  12月25日，當人們歡慶圣誕節的時候，凡塔齊尼在意大利北部城市博洛尼亞市郊的多扎監獄中因心臟病突發去世。一名監獄官員說，30多年來這位"紳士大盜"一直從監獄里"進進出出"，并嘗試過多種越獄方式，但是最終還是沒能逃出囹圄。
凡塔齊尼對自己這么多年來的"半自由"式的服刑方式似乎非常滿意，所謂"半自由"式就是監獄允許表現良好的犯人在監獄外服刑。但上星期，凡塔齊尼企圖打劫博洛尼亞又一家銀行的時候再次被捕，并被取消了"半自由"式服刑的資格。 "紳士大盜"凡塔齊尼出生在德國，其父親也是一名無政府主義者。后來，凡塔齊尼成為了意大利無政府主義運動的風云人物，同時他還是專門從事綁架、謀殺和破壞等恐怖活動的意大利"紅色旅"（ "Red Brigade"）極端組織的支持者，該組織曾于1978年刺殺了意大利總理阿爾多·莫洛。 (中國日報網站譯) |
Updated: 2001-12-31 01:00
