Giuseppe Pinelli
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe "Pino" Pinelli (21 October 1928 – 15 December 1969) was an Italian
railway worker and anarchist activist, who died in the custody of Italian police in 1969 after being arrested. Pinelli was a member of the Milan Circle "Ponte della Ghisolfa". He was also the secretary of the Italian branch of the Anarchist Black Cross
. His death, believed by many to be at the hands of the police, is the inspiration for Dario Fo
's play Accidental Death of an Anarchist
.
-area anarchist group in 1944 and other groups later, including a group which published the weekly paper Il Libertario.
In 1954 he found work as a railroad fitter. In 1955 he married Licia Rognini, whom he had met in an Esperanto
evening course.
During the 1960s he continued anarchist activism. He organized young anarchists in the Gioventu Libertaria (Libertarian Youth) in 1963. He helped found the Sacco and Vanzetti Circle in 1965. He founded the Ponte della Ghisolfa Circle (named after the nearby bridge) in 1968.
, were put under investigation in 1971 for his death, but legal proceedings concluded it was due to accidental causes.
Pinelli's name has since been cleared, and the far-right Ordine Nuovo
was accused of the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing (in 2001, three neo-fascists were convicted, a sentence overturned in March 2004; a fourth defendant, Carlo Di Giglio, was a suspected CIA informant who became a witness for the state and received immunity from prosecution).
Calabresi was later killed by two shots from a revolver outside his home in 1972. In 1988, former Lotta Continua
leader Adriano Sofri
was arrested with Ovidio Bompressi and Giorgio Pietrostefani for Calabresi's murder. The charges against them were based on testimony provided, 16 years later, by Leonardo Marino, an ex-militant who confessed to the murder of Calabresi, under order from Adriano Sofri. Claiming his innocence, Sofri was finally convicted after a highly contentious trial, in 2000.
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
railway worker and anarchist activist, who died in the custody of Italian police in 1969 after being arrested. Pinelli was a member of the Milan Circle "Ponte della Ghisolfa". He was also the secretary of the Italian branch of the Anarchist Black Cross
Anarchist Black Cross
The Anarchist Black Cross is an anarchist politics support organization. The group is notable for its efforts at providing prisoners with political literature, but it also organises material and legal support for class struggle prisoners worldwide...
. His death, believed by many to be at the hands of the police, is the inspiration for Dario Fo
Dario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
's play Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Accidental Death of an Anarchist is perhaps the best-known play by the Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo.- About the play :...
.
Early life
Pinelli was born into a working class family. He worked as an errand boy and then a warehouse worker, but he still found time to read and become active with a MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
-area anarchist group in 1944 and other groups later, including a group which published the weekly paper Il Libertario.
In 1954 he found work as a railroad fitter. In 1955 he married Licia Rognini, whom he had met in an Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
evening course.
During the 1960s he continued anarchist activism. He organized young anarchists in the Gioventu Libertaria (Libertarian Youth) in 1963. He helped found the Sacco and Vanzetti Circle in 1965. He founded the Ponte della Ghisolfa Circle (named after the nearby bridge) in 1968.
Circumstances of his death
On 12 December 1969 a bomb went off at the Piazza Fontana in Milan that killed 17 people and injured 88. Pinelli was picked up, along with other anarchists, for questioning regarding the attack. He was held and interrogated for three days, longer than Italian law specified that people could be held without seeing a judge. Just before midnight on 15 December 1969 Pinelli was seen to fall to his death from a fourth floor window of the Milan police station. Three police officers interrogating Pinelli, including Commissioner Luigi CalabresiLuigi Calabresi
Luigi Calabresi , recipient of a gold medal of the Italian Republic for civil valor, was a commissioner of Italian police in Milan....
, were put under investigation in 1971 for his death, but legal proceedings concluded it was due to accidental causes.
Pinelli's name has since been cleared, and the far-right Ordine Nuovo
Ordine Nuovo
Ordine Nuovo , full name Centro Studi Ordine Nuovo, "New Order Scholarship Center") was an Italian far right cultural and extra-parliamentary political and terrorist organization founded by Pino Rauti in 1956...
was accused of the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing (in 2001, three neo-fascists were convicted, a sentence overturned in March 2004; a fourth defendant, Carlo Di Giglio, was a suspected CIA informant who became a witness for the state and received immunity from prosecution).
Calabresi was later killed by two shots from a revolver outside his home in 1972. In 1988, former Lotta Continua
Lotta Continua
Lotta Continua was a far left extra-parliamentary organization in Italy. It was founded in autumn 1969 by a split in the student-worker movement of Turin, which had started militant activity at the universities and factories such as Fiat...
leader Adriano Sofri
Adriano Sofri
Adriano Sofri is an Italian intellectual, a journalist and a writer.Former leader of the autonomist movement Lotta Continua in the 1960s, he was arrested in 1988 and convicted to 22 years of prison, having been found guilty of being the instigator of the murder of Luigi Calabresi, a police...
was arrested with Ovidio Bompressi and Giorgio Pietrostefani for Calabresi's murder. The charges against them were based on testimony provided, 16 years later, by Leonardo Marino, an ex-militant who confessed to the murder of Calabresi, under order from Adriano Sofri. Claiming his innocence, Sofri was finally convicted after a highly contentious trial, in 2000.
Cultural references
Pinelli's death is the inspiration for:- Dario FoDario FoDario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
's play Accidental Death of an AnarchistAccidental Death of an AnarchistAccidental Death of an Anarchist is perhaps the best-known play by the Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo.- About the play :...
, although in the original script his name was not mentioned explicitly.
- The painting "Funeral Of The Anarchist Pinelli" by Italian artist Enrico BajEnrico BajEnrico Baj was an Italian artist and writer on art. Many of his works show an obsession with nuclear war. He created prints, sculptures but especially collage. He was close to the surrealist and dada movements, and was later associatied with CoBrA. As an author he has been described as a leading...
.
- The political documentary film "12 dicembre" (1972) directed by Giovanni Bonfanti and based on an idea by Pier Paolo PasoliniPier Paolo PasoliniPier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
.
External links
- La ballata del Pinelli (The ballad of Pinelli) – in Italian
- 2001 Conviction of the bombers
- 13 December 2005 ANSA cable (in English)ANSA (news agency)ANSA , is the leading wire service in Italy, and one of the leaders among world news agencies. ANSA is a not-for-profit cooperative, whose members and owners are 36 leading news organizations in Italy. Its mission is the distribution of fair and objective news reporting.-History:ANSA was founded on...
- A short biography
- Giuseppe Pinelli Page Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia