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Giovanni Rossi (anarchist)

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Giovanni Rossi
Giovanni Rossi, Italian anarchist and founder of utopian communities
Born(1856-01-11)11 January 1856
Pisa
Died9 January 1943(1943-01-09) (aged 86)
Pisa
NationalityItalian
Other namesCardias
Occupation(s)agronomist, veteranarian
Known forFounder of Brazilian utopian community Cecília Colony (1890–1894)

Giovanni Rossi (11 January 1856 – 9 January 1943) was an Italian anarchist, collectivist, writer, and founder of utopian communities. He was a promoter of cooperative libertarian colonies, free love, and the emancipation of women. The experimental libertarian Cecília Colony he founded in Brazil in 1890, inspired several fictional treatments including a feature film La Cecilia in 1976.

Biography

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Giovanni Rossi was born in Pisa in 1856. An agronomist and veterinarian by profession, he was influenced by French utopian socialists.[1] His libertarian ideals included free love and the emancipation of women.[1]

In 1875, he began the serial publication of a utopian novel, Un Comune Socialista, whose female protagonist is named Cecília. He continued to publish new chapters until 1891.[2]

In 1878 he published his first book, using the pseudonym "Cardias", promoting his theory of anarchist collectives. He was arrested later that year for speaking against the state, but released in 1879 after charges were dropped. In 1886, with Andrea Costa, he founded and published a periodical titled Lo Sperimentale ("The Experiment").[1][2]

In November 1887, Rossi founded and served as secretary of a collective in Cremona, "Colonia Cittadella", based on his ideas about cooperative agriculture.[1][3]

Libertarian colony in Brazil "La Cecília"

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On 20 February 1890, a group of Italian anarchists, on the initiative of Giovanni Rossi, left Italy with the goal to found in Brazil an experimental libertarian colony named "La Cecília"
Main article: Cecília Colony

In February 1890, Rossi left Italy with a group of anarchists from Genoa, to go to Brazil's Paraná state where they established the Cecília Colony based on his ideas about anarchist communism and free love. This community, mostly of men, attained at one time a population of about 300, but closed in 1894.[1] Although the colony did not survive, it inspired several fictional treatments including a 1949 novel by Afonso Schmidt, a 1976 film by Jean-Louis Comolli, and a Brazilian stage play titled Colônia Cecília by Renata Pallottini.[2] Brazilian novelist Zélia Gattai, the granddaughter of an Italian anarchist who took part in the commune, also wrote about it in her 1979 memoir Anarquistas, graças a Deus ("Anarchists, thank God").[1]

Rossi remained in Brazil until 1907, working as an agronomist and writing a novel titled Il Paraná nel XX Secolo.[4][5] The novel imagines a future technological world where Belgium and Paraná have become great world powers.[5]

In 1907 he returned to Italy, where he worked as a veterinarian and as a teacher, continuing to promote the formation of utopian colonies and the emancipation of women. He died in Pisa in 1943.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Álvarez Escobar, Iván Darío (2008). Diccionario anarquista de emergencia (in Spanish). Argentina: Grupo Editorial Norma. ISBN 9789584507723. Retrieved 10 April 2021. Anarquista, collectivista, veterinario, fundador de communidades cooperativas. Fue influenciado por los socialistas utópicos franceses (Anarchist, collectivist, veterinarian, founder of cooperative communities. Influenced by French utopian socialists)
  2. ^ a b c Felici, Isabelle (1998). "A VERDADEIRA HISTÓRIA DA COLÔNIA CECÍLIA DE GIOVANNI ROSSI (The true history of the Cecilia Colony". Cadernos AEL. 8 (9): 9–65. Retrieved 10 April 2021. Essa Cecília legendária conheceu uma fama muito grande: além do romance de Afonso Schmidt e das numerosas obras de história, a Cecíliainspirou um filme de longa metragem de Jean-Louis Comolli, La Cecilia, 1976... A colônia é também otema de uma peça de teatro brasileira, Colônia Cecília, escrita por RenataPallottini por encomenda do governador do estado do Paraná. (This legendary Cecília was very famous: in addition to the novel by Afonso Schmidt and the numerous works of history, Cecília inspired a feature film by Jean-Louis Comolli, La Cecilia, 1976...The colony is also the theme of a Brazilian theater play, Colônia Cecília, written by Renata Pallottini at the behest of the governor of the state of Paraná.)
  3. ^ Nettlau, Max (1897). Bibliographie de l'Anarchie (in French). Brussels: Bibliothèque des "Temps Nouveaux". OCLC 3208462. Retrieved 10 April 2021. La tentative la plus sérieuse de réalisation des idées anarchistes a été faite par le docteur Giovanni Rossi, auteur de : Un Comune socialista, d'abord à Stagno Lombardo, province de Cremone, Italie (v. « La Révolte », du 26 mai 1888), puis au Brésil. (The most serious attempt to realize anarchist ideas was made by Doctor Giovanni Rossi, author of Un Comune socialista, first in Stagno Lombardo, province of Cremona, Italy (see "The Revolt", of May 26, 1888) ), then in Brazil.)
  4. ^ "Giovanni Rossi Papers". International Institute of Social History. Retrieved 8 May 2021. Born in Pisa 1856, died in Italy 1943; anarchist, veterinarian; joined the International Working Men's Association (IWMA) in 1873; contributed to local anarchist papers; advocated the creation of socialist communes; arrested in November 1878 charged with subversive activities, stayed in prison until July 1879; founded an agricultural cooperation in Citadella (Cremona) in 1887; left for Brasil in 1890 and founded there the experimental colony Cecilia, which lasted until 1894; directed agricultural stations; returned to Italy in 1907; was employed as a veterinarian and teacher; his publications include 'Un comune socialista' 1876, translated and edited, together with other articles and letters from Rossi and others, by Alfred Sanftleben under the title `Utopie und Experiment' Zurich 1897.
  5. ^ a b Vasconcelos, Jose Antonio (2016). "Giovanni Rossi and his anarchist Utopia in nineteenth century Brazil". Anarchist Studies. 24 (2). Retrieved 10 April 2021. By the end of the twentieth century the southern Brazilian state of Parana would become one of the greatest world powers, along with Belgium, having replaced the burdensome bureaucracy of government with the spontaneous associations of individuals. That is how Giovanni Rossi, an Italian anarchist, novelist, and founder of a Utopian community, foresaw the future in a short novel
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