Palmiro Togliatti

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Revision as of 19:02, 4 March 2009

Palmiro Togliatti (born in Genova, Italian Federation, on March 26 1893) is an italian politician and the current President of the Republic of the Sicilies.

Biography

Early Life

Palmiro Togliatti was born in Genova, at that time part of the Kingdom of Italy and now part of the Italian Federation, on March 16 1893, to a middle class family (his parents were both teachers). In 1911 he started studying law at the University of Turin and there he met Antonio Gramsci. In 1914 he joined the Italian Socialist Party but, unlike most of its members, he was an interventist on the side of the Entente.

During the Weltkrieg

When the Kingdom of Italy declared war on Austria on May 23 1915 Togliatti joined the Italian Red Cross in Turin and was assigned at first at the Chirurgical Hospital of Turin and later at the Military Hospital of Milan. Soon after Italy surrendered to Germany on August 5 1919, Togliatti joined Gramsci and other members of the Socialist Party and started writing and spreading phamplets advocating a socialist revolution against the military occupation of the country. When isolated uprisings among the discontented peasantry started to happen in the South of Italy (where the Austrians wanted to create a separated country with an Hapsburg King on the throne) Togliatti and his friends decided to leave Turin, where the military occupation and the repressions was stronger, to join the Syndicalist groups operating there.

Soon he became one of the most prominent exponents of the Syndicalist movement in the south and from his position he encouraged a political alliances with the anarchist movement. When the anarchists agreed, the Anarcho-Syndicalists Party was created and its influence grew stronger. In February 1921, together with similar movements operating in the same contest, they launched the revolution and attacked the Austrian troops controlling the country. The deeply discontented peasantry soon joined the uprising and the Italian Republican Army was created, achieving important victories and freeing the South of Italy of Austrian troops but failing to reach Rome after the defeat in the Battle of Anzio. On April 25 1921 Togliatti and the other Anarco-Syndicalist declared the establishment of the Republic of the Sicilies and soon after that the alliance with the Commune of France.

President of the Republic of the Sicilies

Palmiro Togliatti and Amadeo Bordiga were the most prominent exponents of the Anarco-Syndicalist movement and on their shoulder lied the burden to write the Constitution for the newborn Republic. During the Congress on the Sicilian Unions in November 1921 the new Constitution was voted and approved and Togliatti was chosen as Chairman of the House of Commons, with Bordiga as President of the Republic.

In September 1925 the famous "incident" between Angelo Tasca and Antonio Gramsci happened. Togliatti sided with his friend Gramsci whereas Bordiga defended Tasca's point of view and when Tasca flew to France, seeking refuge among his friends in the Commune, the influence of both Togliatti and Gramsci grew stronger. At the end of the Congress of the Greater Sicilian Union of the following year Togliatti was appointed as the new President of the Republic with Gramsci as the new Chairman of the House of Commons.

Despite the rise of the popular Social-Anarchist Union led by Filippo Turati and the Bolshevik National-Syndicalist Union led Benito Mussolini, Togliatti and the Anarco-Syndicalist Union remained in power after the 1931 Congress of the Greater Sicilian Union. However, on April 1936 a new Congress will be held and many believe that Togliatti won't be able to mantain his seat.

Personal Life

Togliatti married Rita Montagnana (born in Turin on January 6 1895) in 1924 and they had one son, Aldo, in 1925.