Ferruccio Ghinaglia (29 September 1899 – 21 April 1921) was an Italian

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

revolutionary, active in the second decade of the 20th century and killed by political enemies in 1921. Ghinaglia was born in

Casalbuttano ed Uniti Casalbuttano ed Uniti ( Cremunés: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about northwest of Cremona. Casalbuttano ed Uniti borders the following municipal ...

in the

Province of Cremona The Province of Cremona ( it, provincia di Cremona; Cremunés: ; Cremasco: ; Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital city is Cremona. The province occupies the central section of Padana Plain, so the ...

. He was not of a rich family, but distinguished himself in the high school in Cremona as a fervent

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 e ...

and anti-militarist through his writings in the pages of the school paper ''Lo Studente'' (''The Student''), which caused him some trouble with the police because this was during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He arrived in Pavia in 1917 as a student of medicine and earned himself a place in the Ghislieri College which is linked to the

University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...

, but little afterwards he was called to carry out military service. He managed to reestablish a link with his Cremonese contacts and resumed his place in the Socialist Youth. After he had moved back to Pavia, he became the leader of the left-wing split of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

and then the secretary of the newborn

Communist Party of Italy The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current ...

(later to be known as the

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 founder and director of the Pavesan Federation of that party in 1921. Ghinaglia was a person who asserted the necessity of resistance to the Fascist violence. On the 21 April 1921, Ghinaglia fell victim to a Fascist vendetta and was found dead by a gunshot wound to the head on the bridge overlooking the

Ticino River The river Ticino ( , ; lmo, Tesín; French and german: Tessin; la, Ticīnus) is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows. It is one of the four ...

. Though Ghinaglia was dead,

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

still found difficulty in suppressing the anti-Fascist movement. His killing generating popular disdain that culminated in a massive funeral that marched throughout the streets of Pavia the day after because of his

political assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

(which is still held as such even today). He is remembered by toponyms in the cities of Pavia and Cremona and also by the

Communist Refoundation Party The Communist Refoundation Party ( it, Partito della Rifondazione Comunista, PRC) is a communist political party in Italy that emerged from a split of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1991. The party's secretary is Maurizio Acerbo, who replac ...

and other political groups of the Left.

Sources

Alcune biografie di antifascisti cremonesi: Ferruccio Ghinaglia

Capitoli di storia militante: Ferruccio Ghinaglia

82 anni dall'uccisione di Ferruccio Ghinaglia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghinaglia, Ferruccio 1899 births 1921 deaths Italian Communist Party politicians 20th-century Italian politicians Italian Socialist Party politicians Assassinated Italian politicians People murdered in Italy Politicians from the Province of Cremona