Antonio Pennacchi, who was the ‘Fascist Communist’ who won the Strega

The writer Antonio Pennacchi, winner of the Strega Prize in 2010 with “Canale Mussolini” (Mondadori), died this afternoon, shortly after 6 pm, due to a sudden illness, in his home in Latina. He was 71 years old. He leaves his wife Ivana and their children Marta and Gianni. The testimony, literary but limpidly realistic, of thirty years of labor is given by Pennacchi in the pages of his debut novel “Mammut” (Donzelli, 1994). The most fortunate “The Fascist Communist. Accio Benassi’s Wretched Life” (Mondadori, 2003), inspired by the author’s first political experiences, was brought to the big screen in 2007 by the director Daniele Lucchetti with the film entitled “My brother is son unique “, with Riccardo Scamarcio and Elio Germano. The film had a surprising success at the box office and won a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival, but the writer has strongly argued with the director because in the second part of the film the plot of the book would have been distorted. , the belonging to the land and the social contradictions caused by Italic people of different origins and origins typical of the Agro Pontino constitute the narrative corpus, in a frank and sanguine style, of several books by Pennacchi, although the great success with “Canale Mussolini” (Mondadori, 2010), winner of the Strega, finalist at the Campiello Prize and winner of the Acqui Storia Prize as “historical novel of the year”. Born in Latina on January 26, 1950, he was the son of settlers who arrived in the Agro Pontino for reclamation in the years of fascism. The Umbrian father and the Venetian mother had raised a large family with seven children, including the journalist Gianni Pennacchi, who died prematurely, and the economist Laura Pennacchi, former PDS-DS parliamentary and undersecretary of the Treasury in the first government of Romano Prodi. Pennacchi devoted himself to politics from an early age, but, unlike his brothers, who all belong to left-wing organizations, he joined the Italian Social Movement. However, he was expelled from the MSI after a few years for an anti-American demonstration against the war in Vietnam. He then decides to join the Marxist-Leninists of ‘Serve the People’. Subsequently he enters, in order: in the PSI, in the CGIL, in the Uil, in the PCI and again in the CGIL. , then Nexans) of Borgo Piave, in Latina. The latest expulsion – that from the CGIL in 1983, signed by Sergio Cofferati, then secretary of chemists – convinced him to close with active politics. So he went back to studying and writing. In recent years he has supported the Democratic Party (2007). In 2011, on the occasion of the municipal elections of Latina, he returned to active politics, supporting Futuro and Libertà and obtaining 1.05% of the preferences. In 1994, at the age of 44 – taking advantage of a period of layoffs – Antonio Pennacchi graduated in letters with a thesis on Benedetto Croce at the “La Sapienza” University of Rome. In the same year there was the publication for Donzelli of “Mammut”, which in 8 years had collected 55 waste from 33 different publishers (he sent it back to some and changed its title). Also for Donzelli, “Palude” (1995) and “Una Nuvola Rossa” (1998) will follow and, with Vallecchi, “Stalin’s bus and other writings”. the Naples Award. In 2006, again with Mondadori, the collection of short stories “Shaw 150. Stories of the factory and surroundings” was released. In 2008, for Laterza, “Fascio e Martello. Journey through the cities of the Duce” was published. In 2010, again for Mondadori, “Canale Mussolini” was released, and for Laterza “Le Iene del Circeo”. This was followed by “History of Karel” (Bompiani, 2013), “Camerata Neandertal. Books, ghosts and various funerals” (Baldini Castoldi, 2014), “Canale Mussolini. Part two” (Mondadori, 2015), “Il delitto di Agora “(Mondadori, 2018), reinterpretation of the thriller” A red cloud “published in 1998 and dedicated to the crime of Cori, and” La strada del mare “(Mondadori, 2020). Pennacchi collaborated with” Limes “and his writings have appeared on “Nuovi Argomenti”, “Micromega” and “La Nouvelle Revue Française”. (by Paolo Martini)