Altiero Spinelli (1907-1986) was an Italian citizen and lifelong advocate of European federalism. As a journalist, young communist and vigorous opponent of fascism, he faced a 16-year imprisonment in fascist Italy, during which time he came strongly to support European federalism as a means of avoiding future nationalist conflicts. He is sometimes referred to as one of the 'godfathers of European Union' due to his strong influence on the first few decades of post-War European integration. By the time of his death in 1986, he had been an MEP for ten years and had remained prominent on the European political scene through the Crocodile Club, which he co-founded. Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... A Member of the European Parliament (English abbreviation MEP) is a member of the European Unions directly-elected legislative body, the European Parliament. ... The Crocodile Club is a group of MEPs that favours greater European integration. ...

Early Life

Spinelli was born in Rome in 1907, and joined the Italian Communist Party at an early age. Following his entry into radical journalism and the rise of Mussolini's Fascist Party, he was arrested in 1927 and spent 10 years in prison and a further 6 in confinement. During the Second World War he was interned on the island of Ventotene in the Gulf of Gaeta along with some 800 others hostile to Mussolini's regime. City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost 4,000,000 1... 1907 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Logo of the Italian Communist Party The Fourth Estate The Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) or Italian Communist Party emerged as Partito Comunista dItalia or Communist Party of Italy from a secession by the Leninist comunisti puri tendency from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) during that bodys congress on... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Ventotene and the Pontine Islands. ... Benito Mussolini created a fascist state through the use of propaganda, total control of the media and disassembly of the working democratic government. ...

Wartime Experiences and the Ventotene Manifesto

In June 1941 Spinelli and a small group of fellow prisoners completed the Ventotene Manifesto, a document in support of a new European federalism movement. Because of a need for secrecy and a lack of proper materials at the time, the Manifesto was written on cigarette papers and concealed in the false bottom of a tin box. It was then circulated through the Italian Resistance, and was later adopted as the programme of the Movimento Federalista Europeo, which Spinelli founded in August 1943. The Manifesto has since been published in Italian and a number of other languages. 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ...

The Manifesto puts forward proposals for creating a European federation of states, the primary aim of which was to tie European countries so closely together that they would no longer be able to go to war with one another. As in many European left-wing political circles, this sort of move towards federalist ideas was a reaction to the destructive excesses of nationalism. It also marked a significant change in Spinelli's beliefs, since he had previously supported communist movements in order to oppose fascism, as had many other anti-fascists.

A European Politician

Early in the life of the European Community, Spinelli became an Italian representative on the European Commission, taking responsibility for industrial policy. Spinelli was also frustrated by France when it wrecked plans to create a European Defence Force, which he had supported and contributed towards.

Towards the end of his life, Spinelli became one of the main proponents behind the Single European Act. He did so by using his Parliamentary pressure group of pro-integration MEPs, the Crocodile Club (so called because of the restaurant at which the Club met in its Strasbourg sessions), and his personal influence.

External Resources

A short biography from the Young European Federalists organisation The text of the Ventotene Manifesto