Antonio Pennacchi

Antonio Pennacchi (26 January 1950 – 3 August 2021) was an Italian writer, winner of the Strega Prize in 2010 for his novel, Canale Mussolini.

Biography

Born in Latina in a family of workers from Umbria (on the paternal side) and of settlers from Veneto (on the maternal side), who arrived in Lazio for the reclamation of the Agro Pontino, Pennacchi was part of a large family with seven children, including the journalist Gianni Pennacchi and the economist and politician Laura Pennacchi. He devoted himself to politics from an early age, but, unlike his brothers, who all adhere to left-wing organizations, he enrolled in the Italian Social Movement, a neo-fascist nationalist and national-conservative party. However, while increasing his political culture, he rejected the neo-fascist ideology, came into conflict with the party leaders and was expelled. After a long reflection, he approached Marxism and converted to Communism, joining the Italian (Marxist–Leninist) Communist Party and participating in the Protests of 1968.

In the meantime, he began working as a worker at the Alcatel Cavi in Latina (at the time called "Fulgorcavi"), where he remained for over thirty years. At the end of the seventies, he entered the Italian Socialist Party and in the CGIL, from which he was expelled. He then joined the UIL and moved to the Italian Communist Party and back to the CGIL, from which he was expelled again in 1983. He then left politics and graduated in literature at the Sapienza University of Rome, starting his activity as a writer.