Giovanni Rossi (11 January 18569 January 1943) was an

Italian anarchist Italian anarchism as a movement began primarily from the influence of Mikhail Bakunin, Giuseppe Fanelli, and Errico Malatesta. Rooted in collectivist anarchism, it expanded to include illegalist individualist anarchism, mutualism, anarcho- ...

, collectivist, writer, and founder of

utopian communities An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

. He was a promoter of cooperative libertarian colonies, free love, and the

emancipation of women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. The experimental libertarian Cecília Colony he founded in Brazil in 1890, inspired several fictional treatments including a feature film ''La Cecilia'' in 1976.

Biography

Giovanni Rossi was born in Pisa in 1856. An agronomist and

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

by profession, he was influenced by French

utopian socialists Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

. His libertarian ideals included free love and the

. In 1875, he began the serial publication of a utopian novel, ''Un Comune Socialista'', whose female protagonist is named Cecília. He continued to publish new chapters until 1891. In 1878 he published his first book, using the pseudonym "Cardias", promoting his theory of anarchist collectives. He was arrested later that year for speaking against the state, but released in 1879 after charges were dropped. In 1886, with Andrea Costa, he founded and published a periodical titled ''Lo Sperimentale'' ("The Experiment"). In November 1887, Rossi founded and served as secretary of a collective in

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

, "Colonia Cittadella", based on his ideas about cooperative agriculture.

Libertarian colony in Brazil "La Cecília"

In February 1890, Rossi left Italy with a group of anarchists from

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, to go to Brazil's

Paraná state Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology *Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city *Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province * Paraná, Buenos Aires, a settlement ...

where they established the Cecília Colony based on his ideas about anarchist communism and free love. This community, mostly of men, attained at one time a population of about 300, but closed in 1894. Although the colony did not survive, it inspired several fictional treatments including a 1949 novel by

Afonso Schmidt Affonso Schmidt (29 June 1890 – 3 April 1964) was a Brazilian journalist, short story writer, novelist, and playwright. Biography Affonso Schmidt was born on Sunday, 29 June 1890, in Cubatão. In Cubatão, he founded the newspaper ''Vésp ...

, a 1976 film by

Jean-Louis Comolli Jean-Louis Comolli (30 July 1941 – 19 May 2022) was a French writer, editor, and film director. Career Comolli was editor in chief of ''Cahiers du cinéma'' from 1966 to 1978, during which period he wrote the influential essays "Machines of t ...

, and a Brazilian stage play titled ''Colônia Cecília'' by Renata Pallottini. Brazilian novelist Zélia Gattai, the granddaughter of an Italian anarchist who took part in the commune, also wrote about it in her 1979 memoir ''Anarquistas, graças a Deus'' ("Anarchists, thank God"). Rossi remained in Brazil until 1907, working as an agronomist and writing a novel titled ''Il Paraná nel XX Secolo''. The novel imagines a future technological world where

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and Paraná have become great world powers. In 1907 he returned to Italy, where he worked as a veterinarian and as a teacher, continuing to promote the formation of utopian colonies and the emancipation of women. He died in Pisa in 1943.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Giovanni 1856 births 1943 deaths People from Pisa Italian anarchists Founders of utopian communities