Arrigo Boldrini (6 September 1915 – 22 January 2008) was an Italian politician and partisan, one of the most prominent figures of the

Italian resistance movement 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 Social ...

, president of National Association of Italian Partisans for almost 60 years.

Biography

During the Resistance

In 1943, Boldrini joined the then clandestine

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

and has been one of the main promoters of the Resistance in

Romagna Romagna ( rgn, Rumâgna) is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, North Italy. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to t ...

. During the Resistance, Boldrini was the

National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee ( it, Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against Nazi Germany’s forces during the German occup ...

's reference man of

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

and leader of the 28th Garibaldi Brigade entitled to the partisan "Mario Gordini". During the Nazi-Fascist occupation, Boldrini was always at the forefront during the liberation missions in

and was nicknamed ''Bulow'', an homage to

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow, Graf von Dennewitz (16 February 175525 February 1816) was a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars. Early life Bülow was born in Falkenberg, in the Altmark, and was the elder brother of Freiherr Dietrich ...

. In 1945, after the end of the war, his Brigade took part to the massacre of over 130 surrendered RSI soldiers and former fascist civilians in

Codevigo Codevigo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Padua in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about southeast of Padua. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,901 and an area of .All demographics a ...

: in the last years he was indicated by several researchers as the principal instigator of the crime, but in early post-war investigations Boldrini had already been acquitted of the same charges before trial, as it was demonstrated that the massacre was carried "... outside and against his orders and without his knowledge ...", and several witnesses testified that he was elsewhere in the days of the massacre.

After the War

Boldrini has embodied the ethical and political motives behind the struggle of the

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 Social ...

, becoming one of the most authoritative and credible representatives at the institutional level: after being 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 ...

, Boldrini became the first President of the National Association of Italian Partisans, holding this office from 1947 to 2006. Boldrini has been later elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

from 1948 to 1972 and to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from 1972 to 1992, being a member of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

uninterruptedly from 1948 to 1994. In 1991, Boldrini joined the

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, ...

, and in 1998 he joined the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...

until he decided to leave politics in 2005. He died in his hometown

on 22 January 2008, at the age of 92.

Electoral history

References

External links

*Files about his parliamentary activities (in Italian)
IIIIIIIVVVI
legislature. {{DEFAULTSORT:Boldrini, Arrigo 1915 births 2008 deaths People from Ravenna Italian partisans Italian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Italian politicians 21st-century Italian politicians