Adolfo Vigorelli ( Milan, 26 October 1921 – Val Grande, 22 June 1944) was an Italian Resistance fighter during World War II.

Biography

The second son of Ezio Vigorelli, a well-known Socialist lawyer, he studied law at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, and in 1939 he enlisted as a reserve officer in the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

, being assigned to the Automobile Corps. During the Second World War he remained stationed in Italy, and after the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...

– on 8 September 1943 he was assigned to the 3rd Automobile Regiment with the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

– he evaded capture by the Germans and soon made contact with other Milanese anti-Fascists. Hunted down by the Fascist police, he escaped to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

along with his father and elder brother, Bruno, but after meeting in Lugano Dionigi Superti, commander of the "Valdossola" Partisan Division, the two brothers decided to follow him back to Italy to resume the fight against the German occupiers and the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...

. In June 1944, during a German offensive against partisan positions in the Val Grande, Bruno died after falling into a ravine while trying to rescue a wounded partisan, and Adolfo was killed after being surrounded at Alpe Casarolo. He was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor.Rastrellamento Val Grande: la morte dei fratelli Vigorelli
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigorelli, Adolfo 1921 births 1944 deaths Italian military personnel of World War II Italian military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Italian resistance movement members Children of national leaders