Pietro Sandro Nenni (; 9 February 1891 – 1 January 1980) was an Italian

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 and statesman, the national secretary of the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...

(PSI) and

senator for life A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , five Italian senators out of 205, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...

since 1970. He was a recipient of the

Lenin Peace Prize The International Lenin Peace Prize (, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel ...

in 1951. He was one of the founders of the Italian Republic and a central figure of the Italian

political left Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Early life and career

Nenni was born in

Faenza Faenza (, ; ; or ; ) is an Italian city and comune of 59,063 inhabitants in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated southeast of Bologna. Faenza is home to a historical manufacture of majolica-ware glazed earthenware pottery, known ...

, in

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 ...

. After his peasant parents died, he was placed in an orphanage by an aristocratic family. Every Sunday, he recited his catechism before the countess and if he did well, he received a silver coin, which he recalled as "generous but humiliating".Italy's New Partnership
''Time ''Magazine, 13 December 1963 Nenni was affiliated with the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party (, PRI) is a political party in Italy established in 1895, which makes it the oldest political party still active in the country. The PRI identifies with 19th-century classical radicalism, as well as Mazzinianism, a ...

. In 1908, he became editor of a republican paper in

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

. The socialist paper in the town was edited at the time by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

, later the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

dictator of Italy. In 1909 he entered political life by joining the Italian Republican party. Nenni was arrested in 1911 for his participation in a socialist protest against Italy's imperialistic war in Libya alongside Mussolini and was imprisoned for seven months.Crisis of Italian Socialism
Europe Speaks, 3 March 1947

First World War

When the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out, Nenni advocated the intervention of Italy in the war. In 1915, he volunteered for the

Isonzo front The Battles of the Isonzo (also known as the Isonzo Front by historians, or the Soča Front - ) were a series of twelve battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, and ...

. After he was wounded and sent home, he became an editor of the republican paper '' Mattine d'Italia''. He defended Italy's participation in the war but tried not to alienate his socialist friends. In the last years of the war Nenni served at the front again. When the war was over, Nenni founded, together with some disillusioned revolutionary ex-servicemen, a group called "Fascio", which was soon dissolved and replaced by a real

body. While the socialist Mussolini became a fascist, the republican Nenni joined the Socialist Party in 1921 after its split with the wing that would form 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 ...

(PCI). In 1923, after the

March on Rome The March on Rome () was an organized mass demonstration in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (, PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fascist Party leaders planned a march ...

, Nenni became the editor of PSI's official organ, ''

Avanti! ''Avanti!'' (; Italian interjection – 'come in!') is a 1972 comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Samuel A. Taylor's pla ...

'', and engaged in

antifascist 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 ...

activism. In 1925 he was arrested for publishing a booklet on the fascist murder of Socialist leader

Giacomo Matteotti Giacomo Matteotti (; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian socialist politician and secretary of the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU). He was elected deputy of the Chamber of Deputies three times, in 1919, 1921 and in 1924. On 30 May 19 ...

. When the ''Avanti'' offices were set aflame and the paper prohibited in 1926, he took refuge in France, where he became secretary of the PSI.

In exile

Nenni had worked in Paris as a correspondent of the Avanti in 1921 and had become acquainted with

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister of France. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of socialist l ...

Marcel Cachin Marcel Cachin (20 September 1869 – 12 February 1958) was a French Communist politician and editor of the daily newspaper ''L'Humanite''. Political career In 1891, Cachin joined Jules Guesde's French Workers' Party (POF). In 1905, he joine ...

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...

and

Georges Sorel Georges Eugène Sorel (; ; 2 November 1847 – 29 August 1922) was a French social thinker, political theorist, historian, and later journalist. He has inspired theories and movements grouped under the name of Sorelianism. His social and ...

. During his Parisian exile, Nenni made a decisive contribution to the survival of the Italian Socialist Party, which had moved abroad, and he worked for an alliance between the various anti-fascist parties which had been driven into exile. In 1935, he helped lead the Italian opposition to Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia. Nenni went on to fight with 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 ...

in 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 ...

. He was the co-founder and the political commissar of the

Garibaldi Brigade 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 ...

. After the defeat of the

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII. It was dissol ...

and the victory of General

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

he returned to France. In 1943, he was arrested by the Germans in

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

and then imprisoned in Italy on the island of

Ponza Ponza (Italian: ''isola di Ponza'' ) is the largest island of the Italy, Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina ...

. Nenni's third daughter, Vittoria, was active in the

French resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

. She was captured and deported to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

, where she was murdered on 15 July 1943, aged 28. After being liberated in August 1943, he returned to Rome to lead the Italian Socialist Party, which had been reunified as the ''Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity''. After the surrender of Italy with the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

armed forces on 8 September 1943, he was one of the political officials 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 ...

, the underground political entity of

Italian Partisans The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

during the German occupation.

Postwar politics

In 1944, Nenni became the national secretary of the PSI again, favoring close ties between his party and the PCI. After the Liberation, he took up government responsibilities, becoming Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Constituent Assembly in the government of

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 the first government of

Alcide De Gasperi Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician and statesman who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 t ...

. He was Minister for the Constitution, and in October 1946 he became Minister for Foreign Affairs in the second De Gasperi government. The close ties between the PSI and the PCI caused the

Giuseppe Saragat Giuseppe Saragat (; 19 September 1898 – 11 June 1988) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as President of Italy from 1964 to 1971. Early life Saragat was born on 19 September 1898 in Turin, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy, to Sard ...

-led anti-communist wing of the PSI to leave and form the Italian Socialist Workers' Party in 1947 (later merged into the

Italian Democratic Socialist Party The Italian Democratic Socialist Party (, PSDI), also known as Italian Social Democratic Party, was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The longest serving partner in government for Christian Democracy, the PSDI was an important for ...

, PSDI). During the early stage of the cold war he opposed Italy's entry into NATO fearing that it could drag the country into a war between the two Superpowers and reignite the Italian civil war and instead favoured a policy of Neutrality. In 1951 he was awarded the

Stalin peace prize The International Lenin Peace Prize (, ''mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)'' was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel ...

In 1956, Nenni broke with the PCI after

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 ...

's invasion of Hungary.Pietro & Paul
Time Magazine, 23 April 1965 He returned the award and donated the Prize money ($25,000) to the International red Cross. Subsequently, he slowly led his party into supporting membership of the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental transnational military alliance of 32 member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermat ...

(NATO) and he sought co-operation with the leading party, the Christian Democrats.

Opening to the centre-left

In the early 1960s, Nenni facilitated an "opening to the centre-left" enabling coalition governments between the PSI and the Christian Democrats and leading the socialists back into office for the first time since 1947."A Sinistra?"
''Time'' Magazine, 12 January 1962 He formed a centre-left coalition with Saragat,

Aldo Moro Aldo Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and prominent member of Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC) and its centre-left wing. He served as prime minister of Italy in five terms from December 1963 ...

and

Ugo La Malfa Ugo La Malfa (16 May 1903 – 26 March 1979) was an Italian politician and an important leader of the Italian Republican Party (''Partito Repubblicano Italiano''; PRI). Early years and anti-fascist resistance La Malfa was born in Palermo, Sic ...

, and favored a reunion with the PSDI. From 1963 to 1968 he was Deputy Prime Minister in the three successive governments led by Moro and in December 1968 he became Minister for Foreign Affairs in the first government of

Mariano Rumor Mariano Rumor ( ;16 June 1915 – 22 January 1990) was an Italian politician and statesman. A member of the Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy (DC), he served as the 39th prime minister of Italy from December 1968 to August 1970 an ...

, but resigned in July 1969, when the center-left alliance collapsed. Pietro Nenni speech

Although the reunification attempts between the socialists and Giuseppe Saragat's breakaway Social Democrats resulted in the formation of a joint list

Unified PSI–PSDI The Unified Socialist Party (), officially called Unified PSI–PSDI (''PSI–PSDI Unificati''), was the name of the federation of parties formed by the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI) from 1966 t ...

, both parties fared poorly in the 1968 Italian general election. In 1969, a disillusioned Nenni virtually retired and

Francesco De Martino Francesco de Martino (31 May 1907 – 18 November 2002) was an Italian jurist, politician, lifetime senator (1991–2002) and former Vice President of the Council of Ministers. He was considered by many to be the conscience of the Italian Soci ...

took his place.Obituary Francesco De Martino
''The Guardian'', 22 November 2002 He resigned as head of the PSI and was made a

in 1970 and in 1971 he ran unsuccessfully for

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially titled President of the Italian Republic (), is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity and guarantees that Politics of Italy, Italian politics comply with the Consti ...

. He died in Rome on 1 January 1980. She is commemorated in the writings of

Charlotte Delbo Charlotte Delbo (10 August 1913 – 1 March 1985) was a French writer chiefly known for her haunting memoirs of her time as a prisoner in Auschwitz concentration camp, Auschwitz, where she was sent for her activities as a member of the French Res ...

. He was an atheist.Giuseppe Tamburrano, ''Pietro Nenni: una vita per la democrazia e per il socialismo'', Laicata, 2000, p. 366.

Electoral history

References

External links

Where the Italian Socialists Stand
Pietro Nenni, Foreign Affairs, January 1962

Rome, 29 August 1968 * , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nenni, Pietro 20th-century Italian journalists 1891 births 1980 deaths People from Faenza Italian atheists Italian Republican Party politicians Italian Socialist Party politicians Deputy prime ministers of Italy Ministers of foreign affairs of Italy Members of the National Council (Italy) Members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy Deputies of Legislature I of Italy Deputies of Legislature II of Italy Deputies of Legislature III of Italy Deputies of Legislature IV of Italy Deputies of Legislature V of Italy Italian life senators Candidates for President of Italy Politicians of Emilia-Romagna Italian male journalists Italian military personnel of World War I Italian prisoners and detainees Italian people imprisoned in Germany Italian expatriates in France Italian people of the Spanish Civil War International Brigades personnel Italian resistance movement members Members of the Executive of the Labour and Socialist International Stalin Peace Prize recipients Italian anti-fascists Exiled Italian politicians Italian magazine founders Burials at Campo Verano