Ermenegildo "Gildo" Gasperoni (4 August 1906 – 26 June 1994)Prokhorov, Aleksandr Mikhaĭlovich.
Great Soviet encyclopedia, Vol. 6
'. Macmillan, 1982. p. 128 was a

Sammarinese Sammarinese () are citizens and people of the Republic of San Marino. Language San Marino recognizes Italian as the official language. The indigenous Sammarinese language is a variety of Romagnol spoken by approximately 83 percent of the populati ...

politician. He served as the general secretary and, later, chairman of the

Sammarinese Communist Party The Sammarinese Communist Party (, abbreviated PCS) was a Marxist political party in the small European republic of San Marino. It was founded in 1921 as a section of the Communist Party of Italy (PCI). The organization existed for its first two de ...

.Foreign Broadcast Information Service.
Daily report. West Europe, Edition 241; Edition 249
'. 1990. p. 28

Early life

Gasperoni was the son of an artisan from

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

. In his youth, he left the country in 1924.Kinnell, Susan K.
Communism in the World Since 1945: An Annotated Bibliography
'. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 1987. p. 187 He joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

in 1926. He was an activist of the

Communist Party of Luxembourg The Communist Party of Luxembourg (; ; ; KPL or PCL) is a communist party in Luxembourg. is the current chairman of the party. History The KPL was founded on 2 January 1921, in the town of Niederkorn, making it one of the oldest parties ...

between 1930 and 1936. He joined the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, serving as political commissar of the

Garibaldi Battalion The Garibaldi Battalion (The Garibaldi Brigade after April 1937) was a largely-Italian volunteer unit of the International Brigades that fought on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War from October 1936 to 1938. It was named after Giusepp ...

in the Twelfth International Brigade. He later shifted to serve as the political commissar of the international centre for recruiting and training volunteers.
World Marxist review
', Vol. 30, Ed. 7–12. Central Books, 1987. p. 27

Career

He returned to his homeland in 1940, beginning to work towards the foundation of the Sammarinese Communist Party. The

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

had organized a local branch in San Marino in 1921, but the country did not have a communist party of its own. On 7 July 1941 the Sammarinese Communist Party was founded under Gasperoni's leadership. As of 1949, he was the Minister of Transport in the communist-socialist coalition government. Apart from his political labours, he also worked as an auto mechanic in

Borgo Maggiore Borgo Maggiore (; ; ) is one of the nine of San Marino. It lies at the foot of Monte Titano and has a population of 6,871 (May 2018), making it the second largest town of San Marino after Dogana. History The area was previously called ''Mer ...

at this time. Gasperoni represented the Sammarinese Communist Party at different international events, such as the

1969 International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties On 5–17 June 1969, an International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties was held in Moscow. The meeting occurred in the aftermath of the Sino-Soviet split and the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia. The preceding international meeting, ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and the

1976 Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe The Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe was an international meeting of communist party, communist parties, held in the city of East Berlin, capital of the communist-governed East Germany, on 29–30 June 1976. In all, 29 parties ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

.Leonhard, Wolfgang.
Eurocommunism: Challenge for East and West
'. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1978. pp. 146-147 At both of these events Gasperoni voiced criticisms against the policies of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

. In 1978, Gasperoni was elected to serve a six-month term as one of the two

Captains Regent Captains Regent (; ) are the two Head of state, heads of state of the San Marino, Republic of San Marino. They are elected every six months by the Grand and General Council, the country's Legislature, legislative body. Normally the Regents are c ...

(''i.e.'', co-heads of state of San Marino), along with the socialist Adriano Reffi. With Gasperoni San Marino had a communist head of state for the first time in two decades.
World Marxist review
', Vol. 21, Ed. 7–12. Central Books, 1978. During a visit to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in January 1983, Gasperoni and the Sammarinese Communist Party general secretary Umberto Barulli were decorated with the

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples () was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military units, as well as administrative subdivisions of the USSR for accomplishments in s ...

at a ceremony in the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

.
World affairs report, Vol. 13
'. 1983. 52 As of the 1980s, Gasperoni had been named honorary chairman of the Sammarinese Communist Party.
World affairs report, Vol. 16–17
'. California Institute of International Studies., 1986. p. 667

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gasperoni, Ermenegildo 1906 births 1994 deaths Mechanics (people) Sammarinese Communist Party politicians Sammarinese people of the Spanish Civil War Captains regent of San Marino Members of the Grand and General Council Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples International Brigades personnel 20th-century Sammarinese politicians