Antonio Canepa (

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, 25 October 1908 –

Randazzo Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta. Randazzo () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It is situated at the northern foot of Mount Etna, c. northwest of Catania. It is the nearest town to the summi ...

, 17 June 1945) was a Sicilian politician, revolutionary, professor and writer, known as one of the most important advocates of the

Sicilian nationalism Sicilian nationalism, or Sicilianism, is a movement in the autonomous Italian region of Sicily, as well as the Sicilian diaspora, which seeks greater autonomy or outright independence from Italy, and/or promotes further inclusion of the Sicili ...

. He was the leader of the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

faction of

Movement for the Independence of Sicily The Movement for the Independence of Sicily (, , MIS) was a separatist Sicilian political party originally active in Sicily from 1943 to 1951. Its best electoral result was in 1947, when it won 8.8% of the votes in the Sicilian regional electio ...

(''Movimento per l'Indipendenza della Sicilia'') and the founder of the Volunteer Army for the Independence of Sicily (''Esercito Volontario per l'Indipendenza della Sicilia'', EVIS). He studied at the Jesuits in Palermo and then at the

Pennisi College of Acireale Michael Alfio Pennisi (born March 13, 1975) is an Australian-Filipino former professional basketball player. After playing for the Townsville Crocodiles, Townsville Suns/Crocodiles of the National Basketball League (Australia), Australian NBL dur ...

. He graduated in law in Palermo in 1930 discussing a thesis entitled Unity or ''plurality of legal systems?''. He was in contact with anti-fascist groups with whom he wanted to organize in 1933 a coup d'état in the Republic of San Marino, for the sole purpose of demonstrating the active presence of forces opposed to the fascist regime. The plan was foiled and Canepa was arrested on June 17, 1933 along with his brother Luigi and other exponents, who were sentenced to sentences of two to four years in prison, while Canepa, pretending to be infirm mind, was hospitalized in an

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

until November 1934. In 1942, under the alias of Mario Turri, he published the pamphlet ''"La Sicilia ai Siciliani"'' (Sicily for the Sicilians), an important separatist manifesto. He was killed in Randazzo in 1945 during a gunfight with the

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...

. According to recent studies, the idea is highlighted that in the murder of the leader of EVIS there is the combined hand of international secret services because the Yalta agreements had already established that Sicily should be part of Italy, therefore it was necessary to neutralize the separatist outbreaks. On the site of the massacre stands a cippo dedicated to the fallen of EVIS Antonio Canepa is buried in the cemetery of

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, in the avenue of illustrious Sicilians, next to

Giovanni Verga Giovanni Carmelo Verga di Fontanabianca (; 2 September 1840 – 27 January 1922) was an Italian Literary realism, realist (''Verismo (literature), verista'') writer. His novels ''I Malavoglia'' (1881) and ''Mastro-don Gesualdo'' (1889) are widel ...

and

Angelo Musco Angelo Musco (18 December 1872 – 6 October 1937) was an Italian actor in theater and film. He was known for his comic abilities as well as for his carefully drawn psychological portraits. Life and career Born in Catania, Catania, Sicily to ...

. His son Antonio Enrico Canepa, born in 1940, was a Socialist MP for three terms, but died at the age of 43 from an overdose.

References

External links

Antonio Canepa (Mario Turri), ''La Sicilia ai Siciliani''

Francesco Renda, ''Canepa, l'intellettuale separatista e guerrigliero - La Repubblica''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canepa, Antonio Movement for the Independence of Sicily politicians Italian anti-fascists Politicians from Palermo 1908 births 1945 deaths Deaths by firearm in Italy