Manrico Ducceschi

Manrico Ducceschi , called Pippo , (born September 11, 1920 in Capua ( Caserta ), † August 24, 1948 ) was an Italian partisan leader .

Life

Manrico Ducceschi grew up in Pistoia . He began studying literature and philosophy at the University of Florence , but had to interrupt his studies because he was drafted into the military. When the Italian army was disbanded after the events of September 8, 1943, he returned home from Tarquinia .

With his military experience he quickly came into contact with the group “Giustizia e Libertà” (“Justice and Freedom”) in Florence. He took the opportunity to gather a group of patriots with the aim of fighting the German occupation army in Italy.

Thanks to his highly regarded skills and experience as a commander, he gained a large number of combat-ready young people, so that it was possible for him to build a combat-ready patriotic force in Italy. The 11th Military Patriotic Zone one of the few partisan groups that did not suffer military defeat.

Because of his partisan activity, he was on the list of those persecuted by the Germans, not just himself, but all his relatives. They were therefore forced to hide during the war, for example his mother and sister once had to hide in a hearse.

Manrico “Pippo” was one of the few who made it to Milan . He was awarded the Bronze Star by the USA , which was awarded to him in the Santini building in Lucca . Despite all of his undisputed merits, he received no recognition from the respective ruling political parties. Even the promise to retrospectively dedicate a monument to him in Pistoia has not yet been fulfilled. His body was transferred from Lucca, where he died, and buried there.

On August 24, 1948, Pippo had to go to Rome to report on some partisan groups. On his return home, his father, who was worried about his son, found him hanged with his own trouser belt. With that began the mystery of his death.

Many speculations have been made afterwards, but while the official version still suggests suicide, there are many doubts about this version.

literature

• Carlo Francovich: Relazioni sull'attività militare svolta dalle formazioni patriottiche operanti alle dipendenze del Comando XI Zona dell'Esercito di Liberazione Nazionale . In: Il Movimento di Liberazione in Italia - Rassegna Bimestrale di Studi e Documenti . a Cura dell'Istituto Nazionale per la Storia del Movimento di Liberazione in Italia, nos. 44–45, 46, 47, Milan 1956–1957.
• Giorgio Petracchi: Intelligence Americana e Partigiani sulla Linea Gotica - I documenti segreti dell'OSS . Bastogi Editrice Italiana, Foggia 1992.
• Giorgio Petracchi: Al tempo che Berta filava - Alleati e patrioti sulla Linea Gotica (1943–1945) . Mursia Editore, Milan 1995.
• LC: Due partigiani scomodi . In: La Nazione . Cronaca di Pistoia, April 9, 2005.
• Rolando Anzilotti: Una visita a 'Pippo' - Manrico Ducceschi, un autentico capo senza gradi né spalline . In: Documenti e Studi . Rivista dell'Istituto Storico della Resistenza e dell'Eta 'Contemporanea in Provincia di Lucca, No. 25/26, October 2005.
• Carlo Gabrielli Rosi: Ricordi di Guerra e di Pace . Tipografia Tommasi, Lucca 2006.

Web links

• About Manrico Ducceschi (Italian, also available in English)