Giovanni Corbeddu Salis

Giovanni Corbeddu Salis was one of the most well-known Sardinian bandits of the end of the 1800s. If we analyzed quickly his criminal curriculum, we would have to condemn, through disgust and bluntly, all this brutality and ferocity. But the “King of escape”, as he was nicknamed by his compatriots, has some features that make him different from the classic notorious bloodthirsty bandit. It is necessary to look deeply. And this is what we will do.


About the bandit Corbeddu they loomed the most varied accusations that included theft, damages, extortions, robberies, aggressiveness and murders. A sentence of death penalty and one of life in prison, a bounty of eight thousand Liras and twelve warrants of arrest.


Corbeddu, born in Oliena in 1844, was one of the most well-known Sardinian outlaws of that epoch. His life was crossed by a tragic choice – that marked unequivocally his destiny – from impressive actions, criminal gestures, pacific and unexpected acts. A state of being in hiding that lasted eighteen years, a cave that has his name, the role of wise man given to him by population during the disputes, that had in the last years of his life and that sense of silent respect that today is aroused inevitably by his figure.

Giovanni Corbeddu’s life changed drastically when he was thirty five years old. Until that moment, he lived in a simple and anonymous way. For changing this equilibrium there was an accusation that was made against him about the theft of an item of cattle. Omitting the truth of this accusation – probably unfounded – there is still the indelible sign left by it. For this reason, in the Corbeddu’s mind there was not a space for redemption, confession, regret and defense. This simple accusation had a mortal load.
The only responses were rebellion and escape, through the awareness according to which if he wanted justice, he would look for it alone.


He sought refuge in a narrow cave, blockaded by a rock that was moved by the bandit when he was hunted by security force and when he went down the tunnel, the rock was place again precisely, in order not to arouse the suspect according to which this narrow bottleneck guided towards his refuge that was never discovered for many years.
This place, that became his home during the state of being in hiding, today is called “Cave Corbeddu” and it represents, at unanimity, one of the most charming and the most important caves from an archaeological point of view in the whole Supramonte. Two events made essentially the fame of the bandit expand in an exponential way.


The first one was the robbery to the detriment of Michele Angelo Giorgio Spada, the captain of the division of the royal Carabinieres of Sassari, who was proud of having annihilated banditry from the territory of Nuoro making a pair of minor fugitives confess. In front of a promise of a compensation, instead, the captain applied a very grave punishment. The kin of the "victims" turned to Corbeddu, who, in a short time, committed, through the help of some complicit, an impressive attack to the coach where the captain travelled, and he was robbed and left only with the clothes. The message of the bandit was clear.

A few years after, in addition to this exuberant action, Corbeddu committed another one, that marked the fame that he has by now. In the summer of 1894, in the lands between Seulo and Aritzo, there was the abduction of two French merchants, Louis Jules Paty and Regis Pral, abducted for extortion by a gang of criminals who acted in that area. The investigations by Carabinieres were useless. Woods and Sardinian escape were an unsolvable labyrinth for them. It was necessary something else for solving the matter and, since the situation was too long, the ranking official turned to Corbeddu.


The bandit of Oliena intervened making be valid the big influence that he had towards the other bandits. In a short time, the French merchants were released. As a compensation, he was proposed a conspicuous amount of money – twenty thousand Liras, namely a very high sum for that epoch – that was rejected superciliously by him, as a man of honor. The satisfaction of posing as the defender of the oppressed, declaring of having been able where ministers, prefects and Carabinieres had failed, could not have any price. He was given a safe-conduct through which he could turn undisturbed across the streets of Oliena for ten days. The shock and the amazement of his compatriots were incredible. The most dreadful and the most respected bandit of the district, whose fame has been spreading all over the Island, crossed the roads of the village smoothly, without nobody could capture him.


A lot of crimes were ascribed to Corbeddu, most of the times without an evidence, because it is commonly known that fugitives in Sardinia represented a good top for all the pots. More than one deposition vowed about his value and his qualities: a man who kept one’s promise; who suggested his mates that they did not act cruelly on the victims without having before verified the guilt; who repudiated the killing by commission; who despised money and cursed the powerful people.


The official theory about his death concerns the circumstance according to which he was killed by a public official, Aventino Moretti, who killed him after an armed conflict between the gang of this fugitive and the Carabinieres of Oliena and Orgosolo, on 3rd September 1898. This is the official interpretation by the corps, loaded of details. But, this theory was soon opposed compared to the interpretation of some citizens of Oliena, according to which would have been poisoned by a traitor and then delivered to soldiers who faked the armed conflict, it is said, for increasing their value and their prestige.