Giancarlo Pajetta (24 June 1911 – 13 September 1990) was an Italian communist politician.

Biography

Pajetta was born in a working-class district of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

to Carlo, a bank employee, and Elvira Berrini, an elementary school teacher. He attended

Liceo Classico Massimo d'Azeglio Liceo Classico Massimo d'Azeglio is a public sixth form college/senior high school (''liceo classico'') in Turin, Italy. It is named after the politician Massimo d'Azeglio. History It was established as the Collegio di Porta Nuova in 1831 and ...

for his high school studiesWard, David. 'Primo Levi's Turin.' In: Gordon, Robert S.C. (editor). ''The Cambridge Companion to Primo Levi'' (Cambridge Companions to Literature).

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 30 July 2007. , 9781139827409. CITED: p
11
and joined the

Communist Party of Italy 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 ...

during this time. In 1927 he was sentenced to two years of imprisonment for subversive propaganda, after having distributed anti-fascist leaflets to the workers at the Saroglia typographical workshops. In 1931, he went into exile in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. While in exile he travelled to

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 ...

several times as a representative of the

Italian Communist Youth Federation The Italian Communist Youth Federation (, FGCI) was the youth wing of the Italian Communist Party (''Partito Comunista Italiano''; PCI), and the direct heir of the Federazione Giovanile Comunista d'Italia of the PCd'I. In 2016 it was refounded ...

to the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

. He took up the pseudonym ''Nullo'', after 19th century Italian patriot Francesco Nullo. In 1933, Pajetta returned to Italy in secret, but was arrested and sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment by the

Special Tribunal for the Defense of the State Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces M ...

. He was freed on 23 August 1943, after the

fall of Fascism The Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, also known in Italy as (, ; ), came as a result of parallel plots led respectively by Count Dino Grandi and King Victor Emmanuel III during the spring and summer of 1943, culminating with a successfu ...

. He subsequently took part in the early phase of the partisan resistance with the

Garibaldi Brigades The ''Brigate Garibaldi'' or Garibaldi Brigades were Italian partisan brigades, partisan units aligned with the Italian Communist Party active in the Italian resistance, armed resistance against both German and Italian fascist forces during Ital ...

, of which he was ''de facto'' deputy commander. In February 1944, together with

Ferruccio Parri Ferruccio Parri (; 19 January 1890 – 8 December 1981) was an Italian partisan and anti-fascist politician who served as the 29th Prime Minister of Italy, and the first to be appointed after the end of World War II. During the war, he was also ...

and Alfredo Pizzoni, he was part of the delegation of the

National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee (, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationist forces of the ...

(CLN) that sought recognition from the Allies as the legitimate government authority in occupied Italy. After this, he remained in the Allied-controlled South. Pajetta was elected to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

in 1946 and then was a deputy in the lower house of the Italian Parliament from 1948 until his death. He was also elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. From 1948 to 1985 he was a member of the National Secretariat of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), at first with responsibility for international relationships. He was briefly director of the party newspaper ''

L'Unità (; English: "the Unity") is an Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, Democrats of the Left, a ...

'', in 1947 and from 1969 to 1970, and of the Marxist periodical '' Rinascita'', from 1964 to 1966. In 1947, Pajetta took part in the armed occupation of the prefecture of Milan, in protest for the removal of prefect Ettore Troilo. Pajetta was one of the most respected Communist politicians after World War II. Following the death of secretary

Enrico Berlinguer Enrico Berlinguer (; 25 May 1922 – 11 June 1984) was an Italian politician and statesman. Considered the most popular leader of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), he led the PCI as the national secretary from 1972 until his death during a te ...

in 1984, Pajetta was considered too old to succeed him. He later opposed

Achille Occhetto Achille Leone Occhetto (; born 3 March 1936) is an Italian political figure. He served as the last secretary-general of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) between 1988 and 1991, and was the first leader of the Democratic Party of the Left (PD ...

's project of transforming the PCI into a social-democratic party. Pajetta died suddenly in Rome in September 1990, before the dissolution of the PCI. His funeral ceremony was attended by 200,000 people.

Bibliography

*''Le crisi che ho vissuto'' (1982) *''Il ragazzo rosso'' (1983, autobiography) *''Il ragazzo rosso va alla guerra'' (1986)

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pajetta, Giancarlo 1911 births 1990 deaths Politicians from Turin Italian resistance movement members Italian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Italian politicians L'Unità editors