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Orso: Wartime Journals of an Anarchist
166 pages, Paperback
Published July 8, 2025
About the author
Lorenzo Orsetti
2 books1 followerLorenzo Orsetti (February 13, 1986 – March 18, 2019), also known as Orso (Bear in Italian) and Tekoşer Piling, was an Italian anarcho-communist and antifascist from Florence who fought with the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Rojava conflict.
Orsetti was a chef and sommelier by trade and worked in different restaurants in Florence. He became interested in the Rojava conflict, the struggle of the Kurdish people against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and the Rojava Revolution. He met Paolo Andolina, an Italian activist and anarchist who had fought against the Islamic State with YPG International.
In September 2017 Orsetti travelled to Syria, where he joined the People's Protection Units (YPG). Once in Syria, he struck up friendships with several Italian antifascist volunteers who were fighting there alongside the Kurds.
Upon finishing his military training, Orsetti joined a military formation organised by the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist[6] and then fought during the Battle of Afrin against the Turkish Army and Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army's jihadists with other internationalists as part of TİKKO and AFFA (Anti-Fascist Forces in Afrin).
Orsetti was killed in action on Monday morning March 18, 2019 in the village of Baghouz, Syria. He was in that locality fighting in the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani against the last bastion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria. He was attached to an Arab unit Syrian Democratic Forces when he and his comrades were killed by the jihadists in an ambush. His death was announced by Islamic State media and confirmed by the YPG and by TKP/ML, the latter of whom published Orsetti's letter to be read in the event of his death. The letter states "I don’t have regrets, I died doing what I thought was the right thing, defending the weakest, and being loyal to my ideals of justice, equality, and freedom. So, despite of my premature departure, my life is still successful, and I am almost sure that I went with a smile on my lips. I could not have asked for better."
When announcing his death, his comrades shared Orsetti's last will in which he explained why he had decided to travel to Syria and his ideological motives.
Orsetti's body was returned to Florence in June 2019, and was interred in the Porte Sante cemetery.
Orsetti was a chef and sommelier by trade and worked in different restaurants in Florence. He became interested in the Rojava conflict, the struggle of the Kurdish people against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and the Rojava Revolution. He met Paolo Andolina, an Italian activist and anarchist who had fought against the Islamic State with YPG International.
In September 2017 Orsetti travelled to Syria, where he joined the People's Protection Units (YPG). Once in Syria, he struck up friendships with several Italian antifascist volunteers who were fighting there alongside the Kurds.
Upon finishing his military training, Orsetti joined a military formation organised by the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist[6] and then fought during the Battle of Afrin against the Turkish Army and Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army's jihadists with other internationalists as part of TİKKO and AFFA (Anti-Fascist Forces in Afrin).
Orsetti was killed in action on Monday morning March 18, 2019 in the village of Baghouz, Syria. He was in that locality fighting in the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani against the last bastion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Syria. He was attached to an Arab unit Syrian Democratic Forces when he and his comrades were killed by the jihadists in an ambush. His death was announced by Islamic State media and confirmed by the YPG and by TKP/ML, the latter of whom published Orsetti's letter to be read in the event of his death. The letter states "I don’t have regrets, I died doing what I thought was the right thing, defending the weakest, and being loyal to my ideals of justice, equality, and freedom. So, despite of my premature departure, my life is still successful, and I am almost sure that I went with a smile on my lips. I could not have asked for better."
When announcing his death, his comrades shared Orsetti's last will in which he explained why he had decided to travel to Syria and his ideological motives.
Orsetti's body was returned to Florence in June 2019, and was interred in the Porte Sante cemetery.
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