| Formation | 1 November 1969 (1969-11-01) |
|---|---|
| Dissolved | 6 November 1976; 49 years ago (1976-11-06) |
| Type | Far-leftterrorist movement |
| Headquarters | Rome |
| Location |
|
Founder | Adriano Sofri Giorgio Pietrostefani |
Principal ideologists | Toni Negri Mario Tronti Raniero Panzieri |
Key people | Adriano Sofri, Giorgio Pietrostefani,Enrico Deaglio,Marco Donat-Cattin,Gad Lerner,Gianfranco Bettin,Erri De Luca,Giovanni Lindo Ferretti,Alexander Langer,Marino Sinibaldi,Marco Rizzo,Costanzo Preve |
Main organ | Lotta Continua |
Lotta Continua (LC; English:Continuous Struggle) was afar-left organization inItaly, during the historical period of social turmoil andpolitical violence in the country known as the "Years of Lead". Its leadersAdriano Sofri andGiorgio Pietrostefani were convicted for complicity in the assassination of police officerLuigi Calabresi in 1972. MilitantCesare Battisti later joined other organisations and fled to France after being convicted for four homicides. Some other militants later joined the more famousRed Brigades. After the disbandment of the organisation, various former militants became influential Italian politicians, journalists or writers.
Lotta Continua was founded in autumn 1969 by a split in the student-worker movement ofTurin, which had started militant activity at the universities and factories such asFiat. The first issue ofLotta Continua (LC's eponymous newspaper) was published in November 1969, and publication continued until 1982 after the organisation disbanded in 1976.
Lotta Continua focused on spreading radicalisation fromstudents andyouth toworkers, and played a large role in setting upsocial centres. Its influence was greatest among recently immigrated, young, unqualified workers in large factories, while the "traditional" working class kept its allegiance to theItalian Communist Party and the trade union movement.[citation needed]
Among the newspaper's enduring features was Roberto Zamarin's comic strip "Gasparazzo", which poignantly and humorously related the struggles of a worker at a Fiat plant.[1]
The group's leadership includedAdriano Sofri, Mauro Rostagno, Guido Viale, Giorgio Pietrostefani,Erri De Luca, Paolo Brogi andMarco Boato. Other notable contributors includedGad Lerner andAlexander Langer. Since Italian law required that every newspaper needed a professional journalist to act as its managing editor, for some time,Pier Paolo Pasolini lent his name in order to allow Lotta Continua's publication.[2]
At first, a loose grouping with a focus onspontaneous action, it was centralised between 1972 and 1974, with its paper becoming a daily. As opportunities became more limited, it disbanded in 1976 after a national congress characterised by a severe ideological clash between male and female militants. At that time, Sofri and others embraced electoral politics, while some militants joined armed organisations, includingPrima Linea and theRed Brigades.[3] The newspaper was published until 1982.
During the 1980s, most of Lotta Continua's representatives abandoned their original ideology. Marco Boato and Mimmo Pinto went to theRadical Party, others worked on TV (RAI orFininvest) or in various newspapers. Many joined theItalian Socialist Party (PSI), supporting in particularBettino Craxi's positions.Erri De Luca became a famous writer after joining various humanitarian organisations. Only a few of them, such as Marco Revelli and Fulvio Grimaldi, joinedRifondazione Comunista.[citation needed]
On 17 May 1972, the Milan police commissioner,Luigi Calabresi, thought to be responsible forGiuseppe Pinelli's death, was killed.Adriano Sofri and Giorgio Pietrostefani, former leaders of Lotta Continua, were condemned to long prison sentences for complicity in the murder (concorso morale in omicidio),[4] and Ovidio Bompressi and Leonardo Marino for carrying it out. Ovidio Bompressi is one of the few political activists who has been pardoned (in May 2006) by Italian presidentGiorgio Napolitano (Democrats of the Left, DS) because of health reasons.[citation needed]
On 11 March 1977,Francesco Lorusso, a militant of Lotta Continua, was killed inBologna by the police.[5]
On 1 October 1977, during a protest march in Turin, following the murder of LC militant Walter Rossi in Rome byneo-fascists, a bar was attacked by means ofMolotov cocktails. Roberto Crescenzio, a 23-year-old student, died of burns sustained in this attack. Far-left militants and LC organisers of the march were accused of committing this attack and later condemned; the trial clarified that the attacker warned the attendants before throwing the Molotovs, but Crescenzio could not hear because he was in the toilet at that moment.[6]
