Luigi Molinari (1866–1918) was an Italian anarchist, journalist, and lawyer best known as the publisher of the libertarian periodical ''L’Università popolare'' and his support for Ferrer Modern Schools in Italy.

Early life and career

Luigi Molinari was born to Cesare and Giuseppa Caldaroli in

Crema Crema or Cremas may refer to: Crema * Crema, Lombardy, a ''comune'' in the northern Italian province of Cremona * Crema (coffee), a thin layer of foam at the top of a cup of espresso * Crema (dairy product), the Spanish word for cream * ''Cremà ...

, northern Italy, on December 15, 1866. His family was wealthy and his father was a court official. After high school, Molinari studied law in Pisa, where he read

Pietro Gori Pietro Gori (August 1, 1865–January 8, 1911) was an Italian lawyer, journalist, intellectual and anarchist poet. He is known for his political activities, and as author of some of the most famous anarchist songs of the late 19th century, i ...

's ''Pensieri ribelli'' ("Rebel thoughts") and developed an affiliation with anarchism. He was also influenced by the internationalist Oreste Falleri. At the 1887 Italian Workers' Party Congress, he advocated for a revolutionary anarchist platform. He graduated in 1889 and moved to practice law in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...

. The same year, Molinari led the internationalist newspaper ''La Favilla'', which had been founded by

Paride Suzzara Verdi Paride Suzzara Verdi (1 April 1826 – 7 August 1879) was an Italian patriot, journalist and politician. Early years Paride Suzzara Verdi was born in San Giorgio di Mantova in the Province of Mantua on 1 April 1826 to a wealthy and patriotic ...

to support the creation of local worker social cooperatives. Within two years, he started ''Il Grido dell'operaio'' ("The Worker's Scream"), which took a stark anarchist position against German Socialism. He also produced anarchist propaganda, spoke at Italian conferences, and on the

anarcho-communist Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains resp ...

Peter Kropotkin. Molinari was ejected from the 1893 Zürich Socialist Congress and arrested for his role in talks preceding insurrection in

Lunigiana The Lunigiana () is a historical territory of Italy, which today falls within the provinces of Massa Carrara, Tuscany, and La Spezia, Liguria. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, which no long ...

, for which he was sentenced before

military tribunal Military justice (also military law) is the legal system (bodies of law and procedure) that governs the conduct of the active-duty personnel of the armed forces of a country. In some nation-states, civil law and military law are distinct bod ...

to 23 years of prison. The sentence was later reduced to seven and a half years, of which he would serve two years in

Oneglia Oneglia ( lij, Inêia or ) is a former town in northern Italy on the Ligurian coast, in 1923 joined to Porto Maurizio to form the Comune of Imperia. The name is still used for the suburb.Roy Palmer Domenico, ''The regions of Italy: a reference g ...

's prison. He was released in 1895 and moved to Marmirolo, where he cared for his father, practiced law, and remained under surveillance. He became known for his work on the libertarian periodical ', which was published in Mantua and

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 ...

between 1901 and 1918, which supported educational institutions by the same name in Italy and Scandinavia. Molinari promoted the works of evolutionist

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

, European positivists, and anarchist theorists such as

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary s ...

and Kropotkin. He promoted debate on public education, divorce, cremation, militarism, women's rights. He advocated for broader education, including instruction on scientific thought, and civic consciousness as a better solution for crime than punitive criminal law. Molinari later published volumes on

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

and Darwin's evolutionary theory, both with a focus on correcting popular misconceptions. In 1906, Molinari moved to Milan and became a proponent of Spanish anarchist

Francisco Ferrer Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (; January 14, 1859 – October 13, 1909), widely known as Francisco Ferrer (), was a Spanish radical freethinker, anarchist, and educationist behind a network of secular, private, libertarian schools in and aroun ...

Escuela Moderna The Ferrer school was an early 20th century libertarian school inspired by the anarchist pedagogy of Francisco Ferrer. He was a proponent of rationalist, secular education that emphasized reason, dignity, self-reliance, and scientific observatio ...

schools. Following Ferrer's execution in 1909, Molinari published the educator's life and works, ''La vita e le opere di F. Ferrer'', and lectured on Ferrer's ideas across Italy and Switzerland. Three years later, a modern school in the Ferrer model formed in the small, northern Italy town of

Clivio Clivio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about northeast of Varese, on the border with Switzerland. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,010 ...

. Molinari created an organization to support Italian modern schools and encourage schools without state or religious dogma. The group was funded by Milan's Freemasons, who supported Molinari's secular aims, and railroad unions. Together they raised sufficient funds to open a modern school in Milan's

Lambrate Lambrate ( lmo, Lambraa ) is a district (''quartiere'') of Milan, Italy, located within the Zone 3 administrative division, north-east of the city centre. It owes its name to the Lambro river that traverses the area. Lambrate houses one of the m ...

suburb, but it was shortly closed with the start of

World War I 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 ...

. Molinari spoke widely on his pacifism and opposition to war. He earlier lectured across the region to profess his pacifism in opposition to the 1911

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

. With the World War, he contended that anarchists fought against war, proposed an international coalition against it, and wrote in criticism of interventionists, particularly anarchists interventionists: Kropotkin,

Christiaan Cornelissen Christiaan Gerardus Cornelissen (1864–1942) was a Dutch syndicalist writer, economist, and trade unionist. Further reading Christianus Gerardus Cornelisseni* ttp://hdl.handle.net/10622/ARCH00340 Archief Christiaan Cornelissen International In ...

, and Charles Malato. Molinari died on July 12, 1918, at home in Milan after suffering a stroke in a bookstore the day prior. Among his final works was an apologetic recounting of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

to bring the events on par with the Russian Revolution. Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci prominently debated Molinari's points. ''L’Università popolare'' published its last issue later that year in memory to Molinari.

Early life and career

References

Further reading