Celso Ceretti
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Celso Ceretti (13 January 1844 – 12 January 1909) was an Italian supporter of
Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...
, an internationalist
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...
and then a
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 ...
politician.


Early years

Celso Ceretti was born on 23 January 1844 in
Mirandola Mirandola (Emilian language#Dialects, Mirandolese: ) is a city and ''comune'' of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in the Province of Modena, northeast of the Modena, provincial capital by railway. History Mirandola originated as a Renaissance Defensiv ...
,
Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...
, at the time part of the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
, the son of Luigi Ceretti and Maria Malagodi. His father had been imprisoned for the riots of 1831 and educated his children in democratic ideals. When he was fourteen, he enlisted in Garibaldi's expedition to
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
. He joined in 1859. In 1860–1861, he served in Sicily and the mainland with the rank of sergeant. In 1862, he was in
Aspromonte The Aspromonte is a mountain massif in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria (Calabria, southern Italy). In Italian aspro means "rough" whereas in Greek it means "white" (wikt:άσπρος, Άσπρος), therefore the name literally translat ...
. In 1866, he became an officer of the 9th regiment. In 1867, he served in
Agro Romano The ''Ager Romanus'' (literally, "the field of Rome"') is the geographical rural area (part plains, part hilly) that surrounds the city of Rome. Politically and historically, it has represented the area of influence of Rome's municipal government ...
. He became one of Garibaldi's closest followers and later served as a link between him and the
labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
.


Activist

In 1870, Cerretti joined Garibaldi's
Army of the Vosges The Army of the Vosges () was a volunteer force placed under the command of Giuseppe Garibaldi, formed in order to ensure the defense of the road to Lyon from the Prussian Army during the Franco-Prussian war. Background Garibaldi had led volunt ...
. In 1871, he participated in the defense of France and the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
. That year, he founded the Anti-Catholic Republican Society in Mirandola. Ceretti was one of the founders of the Italian Section of the
International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist g ...
(IWA). By 1871, Garibaldi was still respected by socialists elsewhere in Italy, but it was only in
Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...
that his leadership was seen as essential for a people's republic. At first, Ceretti,
Lodovico Nabruzzi Lodovico Nabruzzi (25 June 1846 – 12 February 1916) was an Italian journalist and anarchist. He played a leading role in the dissensions between the revolutionary and evolutionary Italian socialists. He spent several years in exile in Switzerlan ...
and Paride Suzzara Verdi shared this view. Garibaldi planned to call a democratic congress, but he canceled it due to the factional squabbles. With
Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...
's support, Nabruzzi, Ceretti, Andrea Costa and others arranged a conference on 17 March 1872 in
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
, where most of the internationalist sections of Romagna were represented. The congress rejected
Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, ; ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the ...
's view that the question of social reform could follow creation of a republic and also voted against participating in elections, in effect moving towards Bakunin's position. On 11 March 1873, Ceretti was arrested for his IWA activities and imprisoned for five months. He was then tried for "conspiracy" and acquitted. Later that year, he tried to organize a second IWA Congress in Mirandola, but this was forbidden by the authorities. In 1873, he commanded a force in Spain against the
Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...
s. In 1874, he was assistant to
Mićo Ljubibratić Mihajlo "Mićo" Ljubibratić ( sr-cyr, Мићо Љубибратић; 1839 – 26 February 1889) was a Serbian vojvoda (military commander), Orthodox priest, writer and translator who participated in the many uprisings in the Herzegovina region. ...
in
Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...
. In 1875, he commanded the Italian Legion in
Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
with the rank of major in the struggle against Turkish rule.


Later years

In 1886, Ceretti founded the Society of Radical Veterans. In 1888, he survived a knife attack in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. The Italian embassy accused the anti-legal anarchist Vittorio Pini of the attack because some sections of the anarchist movement thought Ceretti was a police informer. That year in Mirandola, he founded the socialist periodical ''Il Sole dell'Avvenire (The Sun of the Future)''. In 1890, he was the first socialist to enter the municipal council of Mirandola. Ceretti died on 12 January 1909 in
Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...
.


References


Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceretti, Celso 1844 births 1909 deaths Italian anarchists People from Mirandola