The Honorable of Plataci didn’t make it Mario Brunettidied late yesterday evening in Cosenza. A man of integrity, highly esteemed in Calabria – but not only – linked to the Left.
The story
He was born on October 20, 1932 in Plataci, (CS), the same place where Antonio Gramsci’s family comes from. He has lived in Cosenza since the early 1950s.
He was: City Councilor; Regional Councilor; Member of the Central Committee of the PSI before the Nenni split and leading leader in the parties born subsequently from this split; Member of the General Council of the CGIL; Member of Parliament for Rifondazione Comunista for three legislatures, carrying out roles of absolute international importance; President of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights of the Chamber; Secretary of the Italian delegation to the Council of Europe; Member of the Anti-Mafia Commission; Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Commission; Southerner, writer and professional journalist of Gramscian inspiration, he was the bearer of a “comprehensive” vision of the role of the intellectual that is embodied in an “integral” conception of journalism. He wrote for the most important newspapers of the Italian Left: “L’Avanti!”, “Paese”; “Paese Sera”; “II Manifesto”; “Il Quotidiano dei Lavoratori”; “Unità Proletaria”, “Mondo Nuovo” and other local and foreign newspapers. He founded and directed, among other publications, the magazine “Sinistra Meridionale”. He published for Rubbettino: “La Piazza della Rivolta”, “L’attualità Inattivo”; “La Sinistra Perduta”; “Ieri e Domani”; “Gramsci; L’Uomo e la Favola”, “Il Coraggio della Coerenza”, “Contribution for a new meridionalista strategy”. He also published for Edizioni Alimena-Orizzonti Meridionali: “Dentro la Storia”, “II Rovello Permanente”; “From One Century to Another” with Alfred Uçi. He edited the series of the Istituto Mezzogiorno Mediterraneo-Fondazione Brunetti which has, so far, published 22 thematic texts on the Southern Question and Gramscian literature. He has received several international awards, including: for Civil Merits from the Albanian Government; the Golden Eagle from the President of the Council of Albania, as well as having fulfilled the role of Honorary Consul of Albania in Italy. Finally, he was awarded honorary citizenship by the city of Ashville in Alabama (USA). The Academy of Sciences of Albania has published his writings on the relationship between the fascist occupation in Albania and the Balkans.