Palmiro Togliatti: A Biography

by Aldo Agosti

Palmiro Togliatti could not have become leader of the Italian Communist Party at a more difficult time in the Party's history. In 1926, while he was away from Italy representing the Party in Moscow, Mussolini's Fascist government outlawed the organisation and arrested all the other leading Communists, including Antonio Gramsci, and Togliatti became leader - but at the cost of living in exile for nearly twenty years.Drawing on unprecedented access to private correspondence and newly available archives, this is the first full biography of this important Communist politician and intellectual. Like many successful politicians, Togliatti was a man of contradictions - the dedicated Party man who was also instrumental in creating the constitution of Republican Italy - whose personal charisma and political acumen kept him at the forefront of Italian politics for nearly forty years. Aldo Agosti explores Togliatti's intellectual development; his achievements and his sometimes criminal mistakes as the leading member of the Comintern; his complex relationship with Moscow; and his lasting impact on Italian politics.
The result is a meticulous and fascinating life of one of Western Europe's most successful Communist leaders, which at the same time casts fresh light on the internal politics of the Comintern.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Italy, Biography

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Italian historian. Author of several publications on the history of left-wing political movements and its protagonists. Of particular importance are his work on the history of the Third International and the documented biography of the secretary of the Italian Communist Party, Palmiro Togliatti.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Formerly the bourgeoisie permitted itself to be liberal, championed bourgeois-democratic freedoms and in doing so created for itself popularity among the people. Now, not even a trace of liberalism remains. Gone is the so-called "freedom of the individual,"--the rights of the individual now are recognized only in the case of those who have capital while all other citizens are regarded as human raw material fit only for exploitation. The principle of equality of people and nations has been trampled underfoot; it has been replaced by the principle of full rights for the exploiting minority and no rights for the exploited majority of citizens. The banner of the bourgeois-democratic freedoms has been thrown overboard. I think that you, representatives of the Communist and democratic Parties, will have to pick up this banner and carry it forward if you wish to rally around yourselves the majority of the people. There is no one else to pick it up. [Tumultuous applause.]

[H. Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Togliatti is on of the great figures of European communism. He might even be the last who was an intellectual in his own right and a revolutionary leader. This books was a great introduction to his life and work. It touches subjects like his relationship with Stalin, the Sino-Soviet Split and post-war Italian politics. At times I wished to learn more about the human behind the politician and it seems you need to know quite a bit about the historical context beforehand. However, I can only recommend this book.