Adriano Sofri

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adriano Sofri, 2014

Adriano Sofri (born August 1, 1942 in Trieste ) is an Italian politician, intellectual , freelance journalist and author. He was a central figure in extra-parliamentary Italian politics in the 1960s and 1970s, as a leading figure in the left-wing radical organization Lotta Continua ( Perpetual Struggle ), which he founded in 1969.

Conviction in the Calabresi case

In 1988, Adriano Sofri and Giorgio Pietrostefani were charged with commissioning the murder of the police officer Luigi Calabresi (1972), while Ovidio Bompressi and Leonardo Marino were the perpetrators. In a long series of trials, he was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment in 1997 on the basis of the testimony of Leonardo Marino , a former Lotta member, most of which he served in San Giovanni Bosco prison in Pisa .

Many people felt that the conviction was unjust, with figures such as Umberto Eco , Carlo Ginzburg and Hans Magnus Enzensberger taking part in initiatives aimed at his release. The judgment was confirmed in 2000 and was then final. Sofri renounced appeals for clemency and instead demanded the redress for the injustice inflicted on him and his full rehabilitation.

In June 2005 Sofri was granted semi-freedom to help clean up the archives of Eugenio Garin and Sebastiano Timpanaro at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa . In November 2005 he contracted Boerhaave's syndrome , a rare disease of the esophagus. His poor health led to his admission to the Santa Chiara Hospital in Pisa and an interruption of his term. Since 2007 Sofri has served the remainder of his sentence in house arrest for health reasons. The 22-year term ended in January 2012.

literature

  • Carlo Ginzburg : The judge and the historian. Reflections on the Sofri case (= Wagenbach's pocket library. Volume 189). Translated from the Italian by Walter Kögler. With a foreword by Thomas Schmid . Wagenbach, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-8031-2189-2 (original title: "Il giudice e lo storico"; review, PDF ).

Publications (selection)

  • with Luciano Della Mea: On the strategy and organization of “Lotta continua” (= International Marxist Discussion. Volume 18). Translated from the Italian by Caroline Neubaur . Merve, Berlin 1971.
  • The knot and the nail. A book on the left hand (= The Other Library . Volume 160). With a biographical essay by Carlo Ginzburg. Translated from the Italian by Walter Kögler. Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-8218-4160-5 .
  • Close ups. Translated from the Italian by Martina Bartel. With a foreword by Gustav Seibt . Transit, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-88747-147-4 .
  • Others' prisons. Translated from Italian, with notes and an afterword by Volker Breidecker. Edition Epoca, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-905513-25-0 (autobiography).
  • Kafka's electric tram. Translated from the Italian by Annette Kopetzki . Wagenbach Verlag, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-8031-3689-3

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Sofri, Adriano
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian politician, intellectual, freelance journalist, author
DATE OF BIRTH August 1, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Trieste ( Italy )