Rino Della Negra (18 August 1923 – 21 February 1944) was a French

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who was active in the Resistance during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Life and career

Della Negra was born in

Vimy Vimy lemish: Wimi or ; ) is a commune in the French department of Pas-de-Calais. Located west of Vimy is the Canadian National Vimy Memorial dedicated to the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the Canadian soldiers who were killed during the First Wor ...

, France to Italian parents, and grew up in nearby

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

. Playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, he began his football career with local club

, before joining

Red Star Olympique Red Star Football Club (), known as Red Star FC or simply Red Star, is a French professional football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Borde ...

in mid-1942. Combining his playing career while working in a factory, Della Negra became 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 ...

in October 1942, and went into hiding in February 1943. Della Negra, a Communist, was a member of the

Manouchian Group The Francs-tireurs et partisans – main-d'œuvre immigrée (FTP-MOI) were a sub-group of the ''Francs-tireurs et partisans'' (FTP) organization, a component of the French Resistance. A wing composed mostly of foreigners, the MOI maintained an ar ...

; he was wounded in an attack in November 1943, and he was executed by firing squad in February 1944. His execution, along with twenty two fellow ''résistants'' is the subject of the famous propaganda poster, l'" Affiche rouge". Before he died, Della Negra wrote a letter to his brother saying "hello and goodbye to Red Star." His brother was present on 21 February 2004 as the club revealed a plaque in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Della Negra, Rino 1923 births 1944 deaths FTP-MOI People from Vimy French sportspeople of Italian descent French men's footballers Red Star FC players Men's association football goalkeepers Men's association football wingers Members of the Francs-tireurs et partisans French people executed by Nazi Germany Resistance members killed by Nazi Germany Footballers from Pas-de-Calais French civilians killed in World War II 20th-century French sportsmen