Palmiro Togliatti
Encyclopedia
Palmiro Togliatti was an Italian
politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party
from 1927 until his death.
to a middle class family, Togliatti began his political life in the Italian Socialist Party
prior to the First World War
. He served as a volunteer officer during the war, and was wounded in action and sent home for illness. Returning at the end of the conflict, he was a part of the group around Antonio Gramsci
's L'Ordine Nuovo
paper in Turin
, while working as a tutor
.
He was a founding member of the Communist Party of Italy
(PCd'I, later PCI
) and, after Gramsci was jailed by Benito Mussolini
's Fascist
regime, he became the senior leader of the PCd'I until his death, for which he also directed Il Comunista.
in Moscow
. In exile during the late 1920s and the 1930s, he organized clandestine meetings of the PCd'I at Lyon
(1926) and Cologne
(1931). In 1927 he took the position of Secretary
of the party.
In 1935, under the nom de guerre
Ercole Ercoli, he was named member of the secretariat of the Comintern. In 1939 he was arrested in France: released, he moved to the Soviet Union
and, remained there during World War II
, broadcasting radio messages to Italy, in which he called for resistance to Nazi Germany
and the Italian Social Republic
.
Turn" — this change in policy was the turn of the party to support of democratic measures
of reform in Italy (the birth of the Italian Republic
), and the refusal to engage in armed struggle for the cause of Socialism. In effect, the turn moved the party to the right, in contrast with many demands from within; it also meant the disarmament of those members of the Italian resistance movement
that had been organized by the PCI (the Garibaldi Brigades). Togliatti briefly served as Justice Minister
.
After having been minister without portfolio
in the Pietro Badoglio
government, he acted as vice-premier under Alcide De Gasperi
in 1945. In opposition with the dominant line in his own party, he voted for the including of the Lateran Pacts in the Italian Constitution
. At the 1946 general election
, the PCI obtained 19% of the votes and 104 seats.
Communist ministers were evicted during the May 1947 crisis
. The same month, Maurice Thorez
, head of the French Communist Party
(PCF), was forced to quit Paul Ramadier
's government along with the four others communist ministers. As in Italy, the PCF was very strong, taking part in the Three parties alliance (Tripartisme) and scoring 28.6% at the November 1946 elections.
In 1948, Togliatti led the PCI in the first democratic election
after World War II
. He lost to the Christian Democrat
party (DC – Democrazia Cristiana) after a highly confrontational campaign in which the United States, viewing him as a Cold War
enemy, played a large part. Allied with the PSI
in the Popular Democratic Front, the left-wing achieved 31% of the votes.
On 14 July 1948, Togliatti was shot three times, being severely wounded — his life hung in the balance for days and news about his condition was uncertain, causing an acute political crisis in Italy (which included a general strike
called by the Italian General Confederation of Labour
). Carlo Lucarelli's "Via delle oche," the final book in his De Luca trilogy, contains a vivid fictionalized account of that day.
in Europe
. Although permanently in the opposition at the national level during Togliatti's lifetime, the party ran many municipalities and held great power at the local and regional level in certain areas.
In 1953, he fought against the so-called "cheat or swindle law", an electoral one voted by the Christian Democracy-led majority of the time, which aimed at using first past the post
to augment the center-right's power. Ultimately, the law was to prove of no use for the government in the elections of that year, which won Togliatti's PCI 22.6% of the vote; it was repealed in November 1953.
Despite his allegedly tight relationship with Soviet Union
, Togliatti's leadership remained unscathed after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
(which was everywhere else a cause for major conflicts within the left). He coined the development of the polycentrism
theory (unity in diversity within the communist parties in all countries). In the 1958 elections
, the number of Communist votes was still on the rise. In the 1963 elections
, the PCI gained 25.2% of the votes, but again failed to reach a relative majority.
, then in the Soviet Union. According to some of his collaborators, Togliatti was travelling to the Soviet Union in order to give his support to Leonid Brezhnev
's election as Nikita Khrushchev
's successor at the head of Communist Party of the Soviet Union
. His favourite pupil, Enrico Berlinguer
, was later elected as his successor to the National Secretary of the PCI position, though Berlinguer's time in office saw the rejection of some policies advocated by Togliatti.
The Russia
n city of Stavropol-on-Volga, where Togliatti had been instrumental in establishing the AutoVAZ (Lada) automobile manufacturing plant in collaboration with Fiat
, was renamed Tolyatti
(as transliterated from Тольятти, the Russian spelling of his name) in his honor in 1964, after his death.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
from 1927 until his death.
Early life
Born in GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
to a middle class family, Togliatti began his political life in the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
prior to the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He served as a volunteer officer during the war, and was wounded in action and sent home for illness. Returning at the end of the conflict, he was a part of the group around Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Gramsci was an Italian writer, politician, political philosopher, and linguist. He was a founding member and onetime leader of the Communist Party of Italy and was imprisoned by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime...
's L'Ordine Nuovo
L'Ordine Nuovo
L'Ordine Nuovo was a weekly newspaper established in 1919 in Turin, Italy, by a group, including Antonio Gramsci, Angelo Tasca and Palmiro Togliatti, within the Italian Socialist Party. The group were admirers of the Russian Revolution and strongly supported the immediate creation of soviets in...
paper in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, while working as a tutor
Tutor
A tutor is a person employed in the education of others, either individually or in groups. To tutor is to perform the functions of a tutor.-Teaching assistance:...
.
He was a founding member of the Communist Party of Italy
Communist Party of Italy
The Communist Party of Italy was a communist political party in Italy which existed from 1921 to 1926. That year it was outlawed by Benito Mussolini's fascist regime. In 1943, the name was changed to the Italian Communist Party.-Foundation:The forerunner of the party was the Communist Faction...
(PCd'I, later PCI
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
) and, after Gramsci was jailed by Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's Fascist
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
regime, he became the senior leader of the PCd'I until his death, for which he also directed Il Comunista.
Exile
When the party was banned by the Italian Fascist government in 1926, Togliatti was one of few leaders not to be arrested, as he was attending a meeting of the CominternComintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. In exile during the late 1920s and the 1930s, he organized clandestine meetings of the PCd'I at Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
(1926) and Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
(1931). In 1927 he took the position of Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of the party.
In 1935, under the nom de guerre
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Ercole Ercoli, he was named member of the secretariat of the Comintern. In 1939 he was arrested in France: released, he moved to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and, remained there during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, broadcasting radio messages to Italy, in which he called for resistance to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and the Italian Social Republic
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
.
"Salerno turn" and shooting
He returned to his native country in 1944 and it was under his direction that the PCI carried out the svolta di Salerno, the "SalernoSalerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
Turn" — this change in policy was the turn of the party to support of democratic measures
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
of reform in Italy (the birth of the Italian Republic
Birth of the Italian Republic
The Italian constitutional referendum which officially took place on 2 June 1946, is a key event of Italian contemporary history. Until 1946, Italy was a kingdom ruled by the House of Savoy, kings of Italy since the Risorgimento and previously rulers of Savoy...
), and the refusal to engage in armed struggle for the cause of Socialism. In effect, the turn moved the party to the right, in contrast with many demands from within; it also meant the disarmament of those members of the Italian resistance movement
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
that had been organized by the PCI (the Garibaldi Brigades). Togliatti briefly served as Justice Minister
Italian Minister of Justice
This is a list of Italian Ministers of Justice since 1946.-External links:* *...
.
After having been minister without portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
in the Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino was an Italian soldier and politician...
government, he acted as vice-premier under Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi was an Italian statesman and politician and founder of the Christian Democratic Party. From 1945 to 1953 he was the prime minister of eight successive coalition governments. His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for a leader in modern Italian politics...
in 1945. In opposition with the dominant line in his own party, he voted for the including of the Lateran Pacts in the Italian Constitution
Constitution of Italy
The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended 13 times, was promulgated in the extraordinary edition of Gazzetta Ufficiale No. 298 on 27 December 1947...
. At the 1946 general election
Italian general election, 1946
The Italian general election of 2 June 1946 was the first Italian election after World War II and elected 556 deputies to a Constituent Assembly...
, the PCI obtained 19% of the votes and 104 seats.
Communist ministers were evicted during the May 1947 crisis
May 1947 crisis
The May 1947 Crisis of Italy was when the Communist Party of Italy was thrown out of government. The Christian Democrats led by Alcide De Gasperi were becoming increasingly unpopular, and were afraid that the Left Coalition would take power....
. The same month, Maurice Thorez
Maurice Thorez
thumb|A Soviet stamp depicting Maurice Thorez.Maurice Thorez was a French politician and longtime leader of the French Communist Party from 1930 until his death. He also served as vice premier of France from 1946 to 1947....
, head of the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
(PCF), was forced to quit Paul Ramadier
Paul Ramadier
Paul Ramadier was a prominent French politician of the Third and Fourth Republics. Mayor of Decazeville starting in 1919, he served as the first Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic in 1947. On 10 July 1940, he voted against the granting of the full powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain, who...
's government along with the four others communist ministers. As in Italy, the PCF was very strong, taking part in the Three parties alliance (Tripartisme) and scoring 28.6% at the November 1946 elections.
In 1948, Togliatti led the PCI in the first democratic election
Italian general election, 1948
The Italian elections of 1948 were the second democratic elections with universal suffrage ever held in Italy, taking place after the 1946 elections to the Constituent Assembly, responsible for drawing up a new Italian Constitution...
after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He lost to the Christian Democrat
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
party (DC – Democrazia Cristiana) after a highly confrontational campaign in which the United States, viewing him as a Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
enemy, played a large part. Allied with the PSI
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...
in the Popular Democratic Front, the left-wing achieved 31% of the votes.
On 14 July 1948, Togliatti was shot three times, being severely wounded — his life hung in the balance for days and news about his condition was uncertain, causing an acute political crisis in Italy (which included a general strike
General strike
A general strike is a strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city, region, or country. While a general strike can be for political goals, economic goals, or both, it tends to gain its momentum from the ideological or class sympathies of the participants...
called by the Italian General Confederation of Labour
Italian General Confederation of Labour
-External links:**...
). Carlo Lucarelli's "Via delle oche," the final book in his De Luca trilogy, contains a vivid fictionalized account of that day.
1950s and 1960s
Under his leadership, the PCI became the second largest party in Italy, and the largest non-ruling communist partyCommunist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Although permanently in the opposition at the national level during Togliatti's lifetime, the party ran many municipalities and held great power at the local and regional level in certain areas.
In 1953, he fought against the so-called "cheat or swindle law", an electoral one voted by the Christian Democracy-led majority of the time, which aimed at using first past the post
Plurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
to augment the center-right's power. Ultimately, the law was to prove of no use for the government in the elections of that year, which won Togliatti's PCI 22.6% of the vote; it was repealed in November 1953.
Despite his allegedly tight relationship with Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Togliatti's leadership remained unscathed after the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
1956 Hungarian Revolution
The Hungarian Revolution or Uprising of 1956 was a spontaneous nationwide revolt against the government of the People's Republic of Hungary and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956....
(which was everywhere else a cause for major conflicts within the left). He coined the development of the polycentrism
Polycentrism
Polycentrism is the principle of organization of a region around several political, social or financial centres. Examples of polycentric cities include the Ruhr area in Germany, and Stoke-on-Trent in the UK. Today, the former is a large city that grew from a dozen smaller cities, the latter a...
theory (unity in diversity within the communist parties in all countries). In the 1958 elections
Italian general election, 1958
The Italian elections of 1958 were held on May 25, and selected the third Parliament of the Italian Republic. The number of MPs to be elected was calculated upon the population's size for the last time.-Electoral system:...
, the number of Communist votes was still on the rise. In the 1963 elections
Italian general election, 1963
The Italian elections of 1963 were held on April 28. The fourth Parliament of republican Italy was selected.It was the first election with a fixed number of MPs to be elected, as decided by the second Constitutional Reform in February 1963...
, the PCI gained 25.2% of the votes, but again failed to reach a relative majority.
Death and legacy
Togliatti died as a result of cerebral haemorrhage while vacationing with his companion Nilde Iotti in YaltaYalta
Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
, then in the Soviet Union. According to some of his collaborators, Togliatti was travelling to the Soviet Union in order to give his support to Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
's election as Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's successor at the head of Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
. His favourite pupil, Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer was an Italian politician; he was national secretary of the Italian Communist Party from 1972 until his death.-Early career:...
, was later elected as his successor to the National Secretary of the PCI position, though Berlinguer's time in office saw the rejection of some policies advocated by Togliatti.
The Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n city of Stavropol-on-Volga, where Togliatti had been instrumental in establishing the AutoVAZ (Lada) automobile manufacturing plant in collaboration with Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
, was renamed Tolyatti
Tolyatti
Tolyatti , also known as Togliatti, is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It serves as the administrative center of Stavropolsky District, although it is administratively separate from it...
(as transliterated from Тольятти, the Russian spelling of his name) in his honor in 1964, after his death.
See also
- Attempt on Togliatti's life
- Italian Communist PartyItalian Communist PartyThe Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...
- Nilde Iotti
- History of the Italian Republic
Further reading
The Italian language six volume works published by Editori Riuniti, Rome.- Palmiro Togliatti Opere Vol. I, 1917-1926. Edited by Ernesto Ragionieri, 1967.
- Palmiro Togliatti Opere Vol. II, 1926-1929. Edited by Ernesto Ragionieri.
- Palmiro Togliatti Opere Vol. III, 1, 1929-1935. Edited by Ernesto Ragionieri, 1973.
- Palmiro Togliatti Opere Vol. III, 2, 1929-1935. Edited by Ernesto Ragionieri, 1973.
- Palmiro Togliatti Opere Vol. IV, 1, 1935-1944. Edited by Franco Andreucci & Paolo Spriano, 1979.
- Palmiro Togliatti Opere Vol. IV, 2, 1935-1944. Edited by Franco Andreucci & Paolo Spriano, 1979.
- Palmiro Togliatti Opere Vol. V, 1944-1955. Edited by Luciano Gruppi, 1984. ISBN 8835927366
- Palmiro Togliatti Opere Vol. VI, 1956-1964. Edited by Luciano Gruppi, 1984. ISBN 8835927781
