Sandro Pertini

Of Marcello Veneziani

Ah, Sandro Pertini, the president of the republic most loved by Italians. The people's president, of children, the cartoon with the pipe, the partisan president who abandons the protocol. The Impertinent. The Pure. Forty years after his election to the Quirinale, in a celebratory deluge, A hagiographic film about him will be released tomorrow at the cinema. We would like to integrate the holy card by telling the story of the other Pertini.
Upon Stalin's death in 1953, comrade Pertini, former pro-Soviet director of Avanti! and at the time the leader of the socialist group celebrated the dictator in Parliament. Here's what he said in Avanti!: «Comrade Stalin ended his day well, even if too early for us and for the fate of the world. His last word was peace. (…) One is amazed by the size of this figure… Men of every creed, friends and adversaries, must today recognize the immense stature of Joseph Stalin. He is a giant of history and his memory will never fade.". That praise, never retracted by Pertini, not even after all Stalin's crimes became known, it does not honor a fighter for freedom and the rights of peoples. Read More