Lucio Magri

Lucio Magri (19 August 1932 – 28 November 2011) was an Italian journalist and politician.[1]

Lucio Magri
Lucio Magri in 1976.
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
5 July 1976 – 14 April 1994
Personal details
Born(1932-08-19)19 August 1932
Ferrara, Italy
Died28 November 2011(2011-11-28) (aged 79)
Bellinzona, Switzerland
NationalityItalian
Political partyPCI (1948-1974); (1984-1991)
PUPC (1974-1984)
PRC (1991-1995)
OccupationJournalist, politician
Pro-communist graffito in Rome commemorating Lucio Magri

Biography

Magri was born in Ferrara in Emilia-Romagna, one of the most left-wing regions of Italy, but grew up in the strongly Catholic Bergamo, Lombardy. His first involvement in politics was as a member of the Christian Democrats, taking up positions firmly on the left wing of the party. However, in 1958 he was one of a number of Catholic intellectuals who joined the Communist Party. In 1969, he was one of the founders of the far-left newspaper il manifesto, co-editing it with Rossana Rossanda. The newspaper's work was controversial with the Communist Party's leadership, and by the end of the year Magri had been expelled from the Party.[2]

He was co-founder (in 1974) and secretary of the Proletarian Unity Party for Communism (or PdUP), which later merged with the Italian Communist Party in 1984. When the latter renounced communism to become the Democratic Party of the Left in 1991, Magri adhered to the Communist Refoundation Party, founding an internal movement whose structure recalled that of PdUP.

In 1995 his movement split, to form the Movement of Unitarian Communists, established to support a centrist cabinet led by Lamberto Dini. When the Movement entered the newly formed Democratic Party of the Left, Magri abandoned it, devoting himself only to il manifesto.

In 2009 he published an essay on the history of the Italian Communist Party, entitled Il sarto di Ulm. Una possibile storia del PCI (The Tailor of Ulm. A possible history of the P.C.I.). In 2011, Verso Books published 'The Tailor of Ulm: Communism in the Twentieth Century'. Reviewing the book in Review 31, John Green praised it as 'an invaluable platform for understanding the apparent impasse of the present global and systemic crisis'.

In his later years, Magri suffered from depression, exacerbated by the death of his wife Mara in 2008. He chose to take up assisted suicide, passing away in Zurich, Switzerland. He was survived by a daughter, Jessica, and a granddaughter, Emma.[2]

References
  1. Redazione Online (2009-12-24). "Suicidio assistito per Lucio Magri - Corriere della Sera". Corriere.it. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
  2. Sassoon, Donald (7 December 2011). "Lucio Magri obituary". theguardian.com. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
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