Davide Cesare, also known as Dax (1977 – March 16, 2003) was an Italian

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

activist from

Rozzano Rozzano ( ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Italian region Lombardy, located about south of Milan. Rozzano borders the following municipalities: Milan, Assago, Zibido San Giacomo, Opera, Pieve Emanue ...

, who was stabbed to death by two far-right activists in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, the night of March 16, 2003. Cesare was brought to the hospital but died in the ambulance. Immediately after his death, members of his group tried to enter the hospital but were blocked by the police. This resulted in new riots with several people being injured, damage to police cars, and the emergency department suspending all activities for the whole night. Cesare's death and the following trial had a wide political resonance in far-left circles, both in Italy and abroad. This was partly because the Italian media initially portrayed the events as a "riot between young dissidents" and, according to some sources, deliberately misrepresented Cesare's death as "a consequence of anti-globalization violence". During the trial, it turned out that brothers Federico Morbi and Mattia Morbi, the aggressors of Cesare, had in fact assaulted and killed him with premeditation. They were declared guilty in May 2004; Federico was sentenced to 16 years in jail, while Mattia (who was a minor at the time of the facts) was sentenced to 3 years. Giorgio Morbi, father of Federico and Mattia, was also judged guilty of

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...

for beating a companion of Cesare on the same night. One of the lawyers that represented the family of Cesare in the trial was

Giuliano Pisapia Giuliano Pisapia (; born 20 May 1949) is an Italian lawyer, politician, former mayor of Milan, former member of the Italian Parliament and former member of the European Parliament. As a politician, he has been a member of two left-wing parties, fi ...

, who would later become Mayor of Milan (assumed office on June 1, 2011). A plaque has been placed in Via Brioschi (the street of Milan where he was killed).

Graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

in memory of Dax are quite common in Milan, but have also appeared elsewhere and abroad; they usually read "Dax vive" ("Dax lives", in Italian) or "Dax odia ancora" ("Dax still hates"). One of these graffiti, portraying Cesare's face, used to be painted on the Darsena in

, former port of the

Navigli The navigli (; ) are a system of interconnected canals in and around Milan, in the Italian region of Lombardy, dating back as far as the Middle Ages. The system consists of five canals: Naviglio Grande, Naviglio Pavese, Naviglio Martesana, Navi ...

canal system; its removal by Milan's cleansing department in 2007 was subject to much controversy and was strongly condemned both by activist associations and by members of the government.

References

1977 births 2003 deaths People from Brescia Italian activists Deaths by stabbing in Italy People murdered in Lombardy {{Italy-activist-stub