Lanza del Vasto
Lanza del Vasto , actually Don Giuseppe Giovanni Luigi Enrico Lanza di Trabia -Branciforte , (born September 29, 1901 in San Vito dei Normanni , ( Province of Brindisi in Apulia ), Italy ; † January 5, 1981 in Elche de la Sierra, Province of Albacete near Murcia , Spain ). Italian philosopher and poet, theorist and practitioner of nonviolent resistance.
Del Vasto can be considered one of Gandhi's most important Western disciples . Like him, he is convinced of the need for nonviolent political struggle, interreligious dialogue and ecological orientation. By founding the Arche Congregation , del Vasto tried to translate his ideas into community practice. He and his community have had an important impact on the European peace and green movement.
Life
Inspired by the writings of Romain Rolland del Vasto broke out in December 1936 towards India on to Gandhi to meet. He spent a few months by his side until, in June 1937, he went on a pilgrimage to the sources of the Ganges in the Himalayas . A vision he received there commanded: "Return home and establish!"
After returning to Europe, he set off again in 1938, this time to Palestine , which at the time was on the brink of civil war, and visited Jerusalem and Bethlehem between all stools . In the days of the outbreak of World War II in 1939, he returned to Paris. He published some poems and in 1943 the story of his trip to India (under the title Pilgrimage to the Sources ), which was a huge success. In 1948, del Vasto founded the community of the Arche , which initially faced great difficulties. In 1954 he went to India a second time to take part in Vinoba 's nonviolent campaigns .
During the escalation of the Algerian War in 1957, Lanza, along with other personalities (including François Mauriac ), launched the protest movement against torture, for which he fasted for 21 days. In 1962 the Arche community settled on the abandoned homestead La Borie Noble near Lodève in the Hérault (Languedoc) department in southern France. In 1963 he was in Rome during the Second Vatican Council and fasted 40 days to get the Pope to take a stand against the war.
In 1972 he supported the farmers on the Larzac plateau (north of the ark) who were fighting against the expansion of a military camp. He fasted again, this time for 15 days. In 1974 a community occupied and settled an army-bought farm in the area. In 1976 he took part in the demonstrations against the " fast breeder " of Creys-Malville.
Works
- Pilgrimage to the springs. An India book. Düsseldorf: Schwann 1951.
- Wisdom of the highway or the meaning of unsteady life. Zurich: Sansouci 1975.
- The power of the peaceable: radical alternatives to misery, bondage, war and revolt. Freiburg i.Br .: guys 1982.
- Definitions of Nonviolence. Translated from the 1963 publication Definitions de la Non-Violence , which summarizes three chapters from the book Approches de la vie intérieure . Kassel-Bettenhausen: Verlag Weber & Zucht 1985.
- Vinoba, king of the poor. Waldkirch: Waldkirchner Verlagsgesellschaft 1988.
Web links
- Literature by and about Lanza del Vasto in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lanza del Vasto |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Lanza di Trabia-Branciforte, Giuseppe Giovanni Luigi Enrico (birth name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian philosopher and poet, theorist and practitioner of nonviolent resistance |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 29, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | San Vito dei Normanni , Apulia |
| DATE OF DEATH | 5th January 1981 |
| Place of death | Elche de la Sierra, Albacete Province , near Murcia , Spain |