Albano Franchini

Italian anarchist-communist militant and resistance fighter, born. An activist in Mòdena and in 1918 joined an anarcho-communist youth group. A worker in the Oficina Mecànico Industrial, he was called up in 1920 but when he returned to Mòdena in July 1922, he was not reinstated due to his libertarian politics. Later that year, he attempted to create a committee for the protection of political victims and prisoners, returning to the anarchist struggle in Mòdena. Arrested by the Fascists for distributing anarchist propaganda, he was imprisoned in 1923-24, later deciding to emigrate to France. He returned the following year, however, and was arrested again in Mòdena in 1926 on the occasion of the failed attempt on Mussolini's life in Bologna by Anteo Zamboni. Once free, like many other anarchists, he found that most anarchist organisations involved in the antifascist struggle had been dismantled. So he joined the underground structure of the Italian Communist Party. Arrested in December 1930, he appeared before the Special Tribunal and was sentenced in April 1931 to four years in prison for "Communist propaganda", but was released in October 1932 under an amnesty. Arrested yet again in June 1937 at a meeting of "subversives", he was let off with a 'warning'. Arrested again in July 1943 for his anti-fascist activities, he succeeded in escaping and joined the ranks of Giustizia e Libertà, fighting under the nom de guerre of Paolo Romanelli in the Brigata Allegretti and taking part in the liberation of Mòdena. Join the Resistance in Allegretti Brigade, Division Modena-plain, and on behalf of the shareholders becomes part of the first democratic junta to free Modena appointed by the CLN. While Franchini did not participating actively in the movement post-WWII, he remained a libertarian. He died May 3, 1984.