Adolfo Vigorelli (

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, 26 October 1921 –

Val Grande Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

, 22 June 1944) was an

Italian Resistance The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Socia ...

fighter during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Biography

The second son of

Ezio Vigorelli Ezio Vigorelli (17 August 1892 – 24 October 1964) was an Italian lawyer and politician who was a member of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and then of the Italian Democratic Socialist Party (PSDI). He served as the minister of labour and soc ...

, a well-known

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

lawyer, he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at the

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (English: ''Catholic University of the Sacred Heart'', colloquially the ''Catholic University of Milan''), known as UCSC or UNICATT or simply Cattolica, is an Italian private research university founded in 1 ...

in Milan, and in 1939 he enlisted as a

reserve officer A military reserve force is a military organization whose members have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional manpower. Reserve ...

in the Royal Italian Army, being assigned to the Automobile Corps. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he remained stationed in Italy, and after the Armistice of Cassibile – on 8 September 1943 he was assigned to the 3rd Automobile Regiment with the rank of second lieutenant – he evaded capture by the Germans and soon made contact with other Milanese anti-Fascists. Hunted down by the Fascist police, he escaped to Switzerland along with his father and elder brother, Bruno, but after meeting in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

Dionigi Superti, commander of the "Valdossola" Partisan Division, the two brothers decided to follow him back to Italy to resume the fight against the German occupiers and the Italian Social Republic. In June 1944, during a German offensive against partisan positions in the

, Bruno died after falling into a ravine while trying to rescue a wounded partisan, and Adolfo was killed after being surrounded at Alpe Casarolo. He was posthumously awarded the

Gold Medal of Military Valor The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fac ...

.Rastrellamento Val Grande: la morte dei fratelli Vigorelli
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigorelli, Adolfo 1921 births 1944 deaths Italian military personnel of World War II Italian military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Italian resistance movement members Children of national leaders