A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova: Guided Tour of the FAI Sites - Carrara, July 20, 2025 (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

On a weekend in July, we gathered in the shadow of the Apuan Alps for 
two days of history, remembrance, and conviviality, in those free and 
rebellious lands, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Italian Anarchist 
Federation. We first toasted "to anarchy!", kicking off the sparkling 
evening of Saturday, July 19, at the unbeatable Circolo Malatesta in 
Gragnana (the longest-running club, having opened around 1885!) with a 
social dinner of "muscle meat," concluded by a concert of libertarian 
and militant songs by Riccardo Dodi. The following morning, we began a 
guided tour of the FAI sites in Carrara, founded here in September 1945, 
as we will remember on October 11 and 12. The FAI Reggio Emilia Library 
Archive organized this free-will initiative for the 80th anniversary 
conference, bringing together longtime activists, supporters, the 
curious, and comrades from all over Italy (and beyond!) in the parking 
lot of the Turigliano cemetery.

The first stop on the tour was the deconsecrated corner of the cemetery 
on the outskirts of the city. The marble tombstones of some of the 
greatest anarchists of those lands and beyond were crucial for retracing 
the biographies of political and trade union activists, exiles, 
international fighters, and partisans, and through them, the history of 
the Federation and anarchism. The history of the FAI began in 1945 and 
has spanned these decades maintaining its original foundations, drawing 
on the experience of the Italian Anarchist Union founded in 1920 and, 
even earlier, the Anti-Authoritarian International (in opposition to the 
Marxist movement) founded in Saint-Imier in 1872. Gathering around the 
tombs, we retraced the main points in the lives of Alberto Meschi, 
Romualdo Del Papa, and Alfonso Failla, and their struggles closely 
linked to Carrara. We also retraced the partisans Zava and Mariga, who, 
together with Belgrado Pedrini, continued the Resistance even after 
April 25th, paying a high price with lengthy prison terms. Paola 
Nicolazzi, who set the song "Galeone" to music based on a composition by 
Belgrado written in prison, is buried nearby. She performed it for the 
first time at the Festa di Umanità Nova in the chestnut groves of 
Gragnana. Other incredible stories include those of Gogliardo Fiaschi 
and Gino Bibbi, the Red Aviator, and fellow Italian Gino Lucetti, who 
narrowly missed an assassination attempt on Mussolini in 1926. The 
unforgettable local Battalion during the Resistance will be named after 
him. Finally, it's impossible to forget the monolith that for over 50 
years has displayed the photo of Pino Pinelli and, since last year, has 
also welcomed his wife, Licia Rognini, with a clear reminder of her 
fight for truth and justice.

As soon as we left the cemetery, we made an unmissable stop at the park 
dedicated to the regicide Gaetano Bresci, where for decades the monument 
to the anarchist who killed King Umberto I has stood. Sergio Signori's 
last work, unfortunately left unfinished, erected overnight because all 
the necessary permits were not available. The monument is the result of 
the tireless work of the Pro Bresci Committee, which had brought 
together many other political forces, with the exception of monarchists 
and fascists.

Heading back toward the city center, we crossed the "Fai Bridge" on Via 
Elisa, rebuilt in 1946 by the Fai and the Carrara Chamber of Labor, as 
commemorated by a plaque marking this work as a key artery, as it served 
to transport marble from the quarries. This example was very useful for 
reconstructing the Federation's role and strength in the city's 
political activity. In 1945, the Fai in Carrara had 25 groups, 17 of 
which were in the hamlets, and had 2,200 members in the Tuscan city, the 
only year it issued membership cards. It thus succeeded in becoming the 
main political force in Carrara, managing public order in the city 
during the days of the founding Congress and ousting the Prefect. This 
demonstrated the existence of a counter-society that did not want to 
remain a utopia. In the immediate postwar period, cooperatives such as 
the Lucetti and Partigiano cooperatives were founded in the Apuan city 
by the FAI, which had thousands of members and 32 shops, enabling the 
anarchists to manage the reconstruction.

Back in the city center, we stopped in the square recently named after 
Fabrizio De' André, overlooking the Teatro degli Animosi, where the 
International of Anarchist Federations (IFA) was founded in 1968. 
Carrara remains a founding hub of anarchism, not only in Italy, and 
after the 1958 congress, the Carrara comrades began a decade-long effort 
to prepare for the 1968 international congress. As we have seen, not 
only the FAI but also the IFA was born in Carrara, and continues to meet 
every three years, rotating its host venue each time.
The establishment of the IFA remains a fundamental step towards a 
serious and coherent internationalism that characterizes anarchists, who 
cannot recognize or support states and governments. The event attracted 
delegates from every continent and received significant European media 
coverage. The congress's discussion points were also briefly summarized, 
although at times it was too simply dismissed as a clash between "old 
beards and longhairs." There was also a lively debate on the role of 
spontaneity and organization. Cohn-Bendit also participated in the 
event, bringing theses that were irreconcilable with anarchism, which 
forced him to abandon the theater.

Behind the theater is Piazza Garibaldi, where the Revolutionary 
Syndicalist Labor Chamber once stood, which, through Meschi and Del 
Papa, would spark fierce struggles in the marble and mining sectors. The 
monument to Meschi in Piazza Gramsci, which we will pass later, also 
commemorates the victory of the six-and-a-half-hour workday for quarry 
workers in 1919 following a six-month strike. This union activity was 
closely linked to the Italian Trade Union Union (Unione Sindacale 
Italiana), and was opposed to the Confederal Chamber of Labor. It was 
not just a city or provincial CdL, but Meschi also gathered within it 
the demands and struggles of workers from the Lucca area, Versilia, and 
Garfagnana. A closer look at Alberto Meschi's political choices also 
highlighted his "neutralist" tendencies; he wanted to keep the CdL out 
of the social conflict with the fascist gangs that were increasingly 
raging in those years in their anti-proletarian struggle. This would be 
a grave mistake that will not help stem the outburst of their violence.

In the adjacent alley, there was a branch of the Partisan Cooperative; 
the public store was the last one open of over thirty in the province. 
Comrades remembered Secchiari, known as Pancetta, who worked there and 
who would always provide even penniless young comrades with a nice 
mortadella sandwich, "the important thing is that you're a comrade." 
Pancetta was the infant who was miraculously saved from the fire at his 
home in Gragnana, set by fascists in retaliation for his staunchly 
anarchic and anti-fascist family.

Just around the corner, we found ourselves in an alley lined with murals 
on the history of the city and anarchism. Right on Via San Piero is the 
headquarters of the Il Seme Typographical Cooperative. A place brimming 
with stories, writings, and graphics, but above all, ink and paper 
printing machinery. It is precisely here that the anarchist weekly 
Umanità Nova has been printed continuously since 1974, previously on Via 
dei Taurini in Rome. The number of publications that have taken shape 
here since the 1970s is incalculable, just think of the movement's 
vibrant print production in 1977. It is precisely this self-managed 
organization that allowed posters, pamphlets, and newspapers to be 
produced for the movement, thanks to the great efforts of anarchists and 
the FAI.

Before arriving at Piazza Alberica, we added a lesser-known but crucial 
stop for anarchist activity in the city. One of the lots on this short 
street was home to the clandestine headquarters of the SAP-FAI since 
1942. Other offices were located on Via Cafaggio in Gragnana and above 
the Germinal, and they bear witness to the anarchist activity during 
their clandestine existence, first under the Fascist regime and then 
during the Italian Social Republic. The National Liberation Committee 
(CLN) met at the SAP-FAI headquarters in the center of Carrara. The CLN, 
in this area, was therefore heavily influenced by anarchists; the 
Resistance of 1943-45 was merely the final stage of the anarchists' long 
opposition to fascism. Many partisan fighters had already flocked to 
Spain to support the 1936 revolution, and subsequently experienced 
French internment camps or exile in Italy. Mazzucchelli's extensive 
expropriations of the wealthiest and most powerful, with which he 
financed the partisan movement, were also remembered. The names of many 
partisan brothers (such as the Macchiarinis, Ravennas, and Rebecchis) 
were also mentioned, and here we encountered some of the names we had 
seen on the plaque in Turigliano. Anarchists in these areas formed the 
Lorano, Lucetti, Schirru, and Elio brigades, as well as the SAP-FAI. 
Others fought in the Ulivi and Venturelli Brigades and the Buozzi Brigade.

Just around the corner lies Piazza Alberica, temporarily named after 
Lucetti after the war, where a bust of Ferrer watches over passersby. 
The adjacent building housed the "large" headquarters of the Libertarian 
Communist Federation of Massa and Carrara, which opened after 1945. 
Buses also departed from this square to take children to summer camps 
during the reconstruction years, as evidenced by some photographs from 
the time.

The guided tour then took us to the Duomo, where we stopped in front of 
the plaque dedicated to Giordano Bruno, beneath which is the temporary 
headquarters of the Circolo Germinal. A key location for anarchist 
activities in the city, the Germinal comrades have been meeting there 
for several years after being forced to leave the historic headquarters 
we reached at the end.

Going back up to Piazza Gramsci, you can see the monument to Alberto 
Meschi, which depicts him alongside quarrymen and the victorious people 
after the great union victories of 1919, which we mentioned earlier. It 
was inaugurated in 1965 and is the first monument dedicated to an 
anarchist in Italy.

Returning, we reached the Politeama in Piazza Matteotti, the theater 
where the Italian Anarchist Federation was founded in 1945. The upper 
floors have always housed the headquarters of Germinal, the United 
Anarchist Groups of Massa and Carrara, formed after the "Pacciardian" 
split that occurred here in the 1960s. Genoese comrade Elio Fiori 
described the building as the eighth wonder of the world. In the past, 
it also housed rooms used for leisure, conviviality, and social 
gatherings for the entire city. In more recent years, following property 
speculation, the building was damaged and rendered uninhabitable, 
subsequently seized by FAI and rendered unusable. The extensive and rich 
archive it housed is currently located in Torano.

The guided tour concluded with a convivial lunch at Trattoria La 
Capinera, in a setting adorned with posters for Critical Wine, Cucine 
del Popolo, and the works of Flavio Costantini. An important opportunity 
to refuel after the walk with comrades, cheered by hearty Carrara 
cuisine, concluding a rich day dedicated to the memory of places, 
biographies, and struggles of anarchism in Carrara.

In anticipation of the 80th anniversary of the FAI, we will see you 
again in Carrara on Saturday, October 11th and Sunday, October 12th.

25 July 2025
Enry Riot

https://umanitanova.org/visita-guidata-nei-luoghi-della-fai-carrara-20-luglio-2025/
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