Luigi Longo

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Luigi Longo (1900–1980), nicknamed Gallo, was an Italian communist leader who served as general secretary of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from 1964 to 1972.

Early life and rise in politics
Longo was born in Fubine, Piedmont. As a student at the Politecnico di Torino, he got involved with the youth wing of the Italian Socialist Party and started spreading Marxist ideas. He learned from the writings of Gramsci and met Palmiro Togliatti. In 1921, he helped steer the PSI into a split that formed the PCI, a party dedicated to communism.

Exile and international work
An anti-fascist, Longo left Italy when Mussolini came to power in 1922 and spent time in France, becoming a leading figure in the PCI abroad. He traveled to Moscow for Comintern meetings and met Lenin and later Stalin. He joined the Comintern’s political commission in 1933 and helped forge ties between the PCI and the PSI in 1934. During the Spanish Civil War, he served as an inspector of Republican troops in the International Brigades under the name Gallo.

World War II and resistance
After Franco won in Spain, Longo returned to France. He was arrested by the Vichy government and interned at Vernet from 1939 to 1941, where he met fellow leftists. In 1941 he was handed over to Italian fascist authorities and moved to Ventotene. He was released after Mussolini fell from power in 1943. In northern Italy, Longo led communist fighters in the Garibaldi Brigades and worked with Ferruccio Parri in the resistance. He played a key role in the 1945 uprising that helped end Fascist rule. The execution of Mussolini and his companion Claretta Petacci at Dongo is a famous moment linked to those events, though Longo’s exact involvement is debated by historians.

Political life after the war
After the war, Longo remained a major PCI leader. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1946 and then to the Italian Chamber of Deputies, where he served for many years. In 1946, Teresa Mattei chose the mimosa as the symbol of International Women’s Day at Longo’s request.

Secretary of the PCI and later years
In 1964, after Togliatti’s death, Longo became the PCI’s general secretary, saying he was “a secretary, not a boss.” He continued Togliatti’s approach and tried to steer the party on the path toward socialism in Italy, while moving away from a strict alliance with the Soviet Union. He welcomed some new left movements arising in 1968, though he did not approve of their excesses.

Health, succession, and legacy
Longo suffered a stroke in 1968, and from 1969 his deputy Enrico Berlinguer helped with many decisions. In 1972 Longo stepped down as secretary and became honorary president of the PCI, a position he held until his death. He opposed the party’s later emphasis on a “national solidarity” line. Longo was also a prolific writer and founded Vie Nuove, a popular PCI magazine.