Altiero Spinelli

Altiero Spinelli (31 August 1907 – 23 May 1986) was an Italian politician, political theorist and European federalist, referred to as one of the founding fathers of the European Union. A communist and militant anti-fascist in his youth, Spinelli spent 10 years imprisoned by the Italian fascist regime. Having grown disillusioned with Stalinism, he broke with the Communist Party of Italy in 1937. Interned in Ventotene during World War II, he, along with fellow democratic socialists, drafted the manifesto For a Free and United Europe (most commonly known as the Ventotene Manifesto) in 1941, considered a precursor of the European integration process.

Spinelli had a leading role in the foundation of the European Federalist Movement, and had a strong influence on the first few decades of post-World War II European integration. Later, he helped to re-launch the integration process in the 1980s. By the time of his death, he had been a member of the European Commission for six years, and a member of the European Parliament for ten years right up until his death. The main building of the European Parliament in Brussels is named after him. The 1987–1988 academic year at the College of Europe and the 2009–2010 academic year of the European College of Parma were named in his honour.

Early life

Spinelli was born in Rome, the son of a socialist father. He joined the Communist Party of Italy (PCd'I) at age 17 in 1924. Following his entry into radical journalism, he was arrested in 1927 and spent ten years in prison and a further six in confinement. In June 1939 he was interned on the island of Ventotene (in Lazio) along with some eight hundred other political opponents of the regime. Here he became involved in the PCI underground. In 1937, he was expelled from the PCd'I for opposing Stalinism, undermining the Bolshevik ideology and supporting Trotskyism.