Spinelli: who was he?
Few of the younger MEPs or staff in the European Parliament seem aware of the person after whom the main parliamentary building is named: Altiero Spinelli.
I was privileged to attend as a special guest last Monday, the premiere of a film on the life of Spinelli – not a documentary but a historical drama on his life, the 16 years he spent in Mussolini’s prisons and internment camp on the island of Ventotene. Members of Spinelli’s family, people who worked closely with him, the actors, film director, and the head of Italian television RAI were there. The film itself was very moving and well acted. It would be nice if it were not only shown on Italian television, but also in other countries.
It’s been 28 years since Altiero Spinelli passed away, at which time I wrote a tribute to him, as I had the privilege of working with him from to
An extract of the article can be read below. I hope it will enable a new generation in the Parliament to understand the significance of the man behind the name of the building in which we work.
Spinelli was one of those men whose actions were directed towards his ideas. Brash but persuasive, willing to compromise but not to
The founding fathers of the European Union: Altiero Spinelli
Altiero Spinelli was an Italian federalist who was much less-known than the other “founding fathers” of Europe. All his life, he defended a democratic and federalist European ideal. Despite his great influence on European integration, could he see himself in today’s European Union?
According to one of its (numerous) possible etymologies, the word “Europe” would derive from the Greek word Eurys and Ops, and whose association could be translated into “the one who looks far ahead”. This acceptation would perfectly correspond to Altiero Spinelli, a visionary federalist who exerted a decisive influence on European integration, revolutionary communist but also the profound defender of a democratic Europe.
Revolutionary communist, defender of a federal ideal for Europe
Born in of socialist parents, the young Altiero was immersed very early in politics and revolutionary ideal. He joined the Italian communist party in , right before Benito Mussolini took over the whole Italian society. As a consequence of his role in the opposition to fascist totalitarianism, he was sentenced in to 16
Altiero Spinelli and his European dream
The European Union faces its gravest crisis since the common market came into existence at the Treaty of Rome in Individual states dissatisfied with the technocrats in Brussels are reasserting their right to determine their own policies and laws while many of Europe&#;s regions are seeking more autonomy or even independence. Concern over the influence of Islam and its radical factions, and massive immigration caused by poverty and military conflicts in Africa and Asia, has led to the rise of populist political parties across the continent, bringing the fear of a return to rightwing extremism.
Instead of a European utopia, we face the break-up of the EU and the end of the dream, which began on a tiny island off the Italian coast in
Ventotene is a small volcanic island part of the Pontine archipelago off the west coast of Italy in the Tyrrhenian sea between Rome and Naples. First used as a prison during the Roman Empire, Mussolini chose the island to incarcerate Italian antifascists, many of who were communist intellectuals. Among the inmates were Sandro Pertini, Eugenio Colorni, Ursula Hirschmann, Ernesto Rossi and Altiero Spinelli.
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