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Francesco Gramsci
Francesco Gramsci (1860-1937).
Gramsci's father. Francesco,
the son of a colonel in the Bourbon gendarmerie, was born
in Gaeta in 1860 into a family of Albanian origins that had
moved to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1821. In 1881
Francesco Gramsci left the Italian mainland for Sardinia to
take up employment as a civil servant in Ghilarza.
To view full picture, click on image.
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Giuseppina Gramsci &
Mimma Paulesu, early 1920s
Gramsci's mother, Giuseppina (1861-1932),
holding her granddaughter, Mimma, the daughter of Gramsci's
sister Teresina.
Gramsci's mother was born as Giuseppina Marcias in the city
of Ghilarza in Sardinian in 1861. In 1883 she married Francesco.
They subsequently moved to the city of Ales, where Gramsci was
born in 1891. |
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Casa Gramsci in Ghilarza,
1897
This is a picture of Gramsci's
house in Ghilarza, Sardinia, taken sometime in the 1990s.
In 1897, Gramsci's father was suspended from his job, arrested
and given a prison sentence for alleged administrative abuses,
so Gramsci's mother and six brothers and sisters moved to Gramsci's
mother's home city of Ghilarza. |
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Gramsci at age 15, 1906
Between 1905 and 1908, Gramsci attended the last three years
of secondary school in Santu Lussurgiu, about 15 kilometers
from Ghilarza. During the school year he stayed at a peasant's
house in Santu Lussurgiu. In the early years Gramsci manifested
a bent for mathematics and science. Around 1905 he began to
read socialist publications, including Avanti! which
his older brother, Gennaro, used to send him from Turin where
he was performing his military service.
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Teresina Gramsci, early
1920s
Teresina Gramsci (1895-1976). Gramsci's
sister. |
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Gramsci around age 30,
early 1920s
Throughout his twenties
and thirties, until his arrest in 1926, Gramsci
was politically active. In 1919, he helped found
the socialist weekly L'Ordine Nuovo (the
new order) in Turin. In 1920, he actively supported
the workers' movement to occupy factories in Turin
and Milan. In 1921, he was one of the leading delegates
to split from the Italian Socialist Party and help
found the Communist Party of Italy (PCd'I). In 1922,
he was appointed to represent the PCd'I in the Comitern. |
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Gramsci's Comintern photo
identity card, September 1922
In May 1922, Gramsci traveled to
Moscow, and in June he became a member of the Comintern's executive
committee. He lived in Moscow until November 1923. |
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Gramsci photo, around
1922
This picture was probably taken
during the same period as the photo above. |
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Schucht family, 1912-1913
While Gramsci was living in Moscow
he met Julia Schucht (center), who eventually became his wife.
This is a picture of the Schucht family when they lived in Rome. |
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Gramsci in Vienna, 1923
Gramsci left Moscow for Vienna
in November of 1923, and his wife Julia stayed in Moscow. Gramsci
arrived in Vienna on December 3rd, and he did not return to
Italy until May 1924. This is one of the only pictures showing
Gramsci's smile. |
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Tatiana Schucht, 1924
Tatiana Schucht (1887-1943) was
Gramsci's sister-in-law. She was the sister of Julia, Gramsci's
wife, and she lived in Italy until after Gramsci's death. |
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Tatiana Schucht, mid-1920s
In May 1924 Gramsci moved back to Italy, and in January 1925 he met Tatiana for the first time in Rome.
After Gramsci's arrest in November 1926, Tatiana became a major supporter of a Gramsci's emotional and physical wellbeing. |
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Julia Schucht, late 1920s
In the fall of 1925, Julia and
Delio (Gramsci's son) joined Gramsci in Rome. Gramsci and Julia
had not seen each other since November 1923, and it was the
first time Gramsci saw his son Delio. |
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Giuliano Gramsci
Before Gramsci's arrest
in November 1926, his wife Julia returned to the
Soviet Union to give birth to their second son,
Giuliano. Giuliano was born in Moscow on August
30, 1926, a little more than two months before Gramsci's
arrest. Because of Gramsci's imprisonment and early
death, he never had the chance to meet Giuliano.
This is a picture of Giuliano as a little boy with
his schoolmates in Moscow, taken sometime in the
1930s. |
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Gramsci's signature and
fingerprints, November 1926
On November 8, 1926, Italy's fascist
government arrested Gramsci and other Communist Party deputies,
even though they were supposed to be protected by the rules
of parliamentary immunity. Gramsci was placed in solitary confinement
at the Regina Coeli prison in Rome. |
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Prison at Turi di Bari,
1928
Gramsci was held in Turi from July
19, 1928 to November 19, 1933. When he arrived at Turi, he received
his prisoner's identification number, 7047. In January 1929,
he obtained permission to write in his cell. He planned to read
systematically and to concentrate on certain topics. His book
requests reflected these plans. In 1929 he started to write
what are now known as his "prison notebooks." |
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Gramsci's "First
Notebook", 8 February 1929
Before starting to write his "prison
notebooks," Gramsci outlined something resembling a study
plan on the first two pages of an ordinary exercise book. On
the top of the first page, he inscribed and underlined the title,
"First Notebook" followed by the date of its inscription,
"8 February 1929." The study plan consists of sixteen
numbered items listed under the heading "Main Topics." |
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Piero Sraffa around age
28, late 1920s
Piero Sraffa (1898-1983) was a
leading Italian economist and friend of Gramsci's. Along with
Tatiana Schucht, Sraffa became a mainstay of Gramsci's intellectual
and material support while in prison. Sraffa managed to open
an unlimited credit account for Gramsci at Sperling & Kupfer's
bookshop in Milan, so Gramsci could request reading materials
while in prison. |
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Ministry of Justice Directive,
13 November 1930
This a directive from the Ministry
of Justice to the warden of Turi prison granting Gramsci permission
to read a number of books while in prison. |
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Romain Rolland's anti-fascist
pamphlet, 1933 or 1934
This is a cover of a pamphlet published
by French novelist Romain Rolland. Under Gramsci's name are
the words "Those who are dying in Mussolini's prisons."
The pamphlet was translated and distributed in many countries. |
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Cusumano Clinic in Formia,
December 1933
In October 1933, because of his
extremely poor health, Gramsci received authorization to leave
the Turi prison and enter Giuseppe Cusumano's clinic in Formia.
Gramsci entered the clinic on December 17, but since he was
still considered a prisoner, he was under police guard and close
surveillance. |
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Gramsci at the Cusumano
Clinic in Formia, 1933-1935
This is a picture of Gramsci while
he was held at the Cusumano clinic in Formia. While in Formia,
Tatiana Schucht visited Gramsci weekly, and he received visits
from his brother Carlo and Piero Sraffa. Gramsci started reading
again and after a while he resumed writing in his notebooks.
He remained in Formia until August 24, 1935, at which time he
entered the Quisisana clinic in Rome because of his deteriorating
health. |
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Tatiana Schucht at Gramsci's
Grave
Gramsci's prison sentence expired
on April 21, 1937, but while still a patient at the Quisisana
clinic, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on the evening of
April 25. Tatiana Schucht stayed at his bedside as Gramsci died
early in the morning on April 27, 1937.
This is a picture of Tatiana Schucht standing beside Gramsci's
grave in the Non-Catholic Cemetery (or Protestant Cemetery) in Rome (circa 1938). After Gramsci's death
Tatiana moved back to Moscow. |
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Gramsci's Grave in Rome
This a picture of Gramsci's grave
taken in the mid- to late 1940s. The words at the bottom, in
Latin, read "The ashes of Antonio Gramsci." |
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Eugenia Schucht, Delio
Gramsci, & Julia Schucht
This a picture of Gramsci's son
Delio (1924-1981) with his aunt Eugenia (1888-1972) and his
mother Julia (1896-1980). The photo was taken in the early 1960s. |
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