Francesco Moranino: un caso giudiziario fra Resistenza, desistenza, e guerra civile

Gemisto ", the hero of this description of an episode of partisan struggle published in the newspaper of the Communist Party" Unity "in 1951, was actually Francis, or Franco, Moranino. Her battle unusual name had been suggested by Peter Secchia, he had in mind Gemistus Pletho, a humanist of the Renaissance came to Ferrara from Constantinople in 1438, bringing with it the ideal of a total renewal of the world based on Platonic concepts. Even before he became a leader of the Resistance in the area of ​​Biella, Moranino had impeccable anti-fascist credentials. He worked in the textile industry and the Spinning of Tolland (Tolland was the town where he was born February 6, 1920), where he held meetings and subversive activities, and Tolland was arrested with 18 others in January 1941. Sentenced to 12 years and 6 months by the special fascist Court, spent two years in prison in Civitavecchia and 2 Castelfranco Emilia, before the collapse of the fascist regime would allow him to return to freedom. His career partisan began with the creation of a small detachment in Monte Cucco, near Biella. Later he moved to Valsessera where he formed the detachment Pisacane. In December 1949, the workers of the Biella textile industry went on strike and were supported by Moranino and training Pisacane, who blocked roads and cut telephone lines. Moranino invited industrialists to meet the workers' demands, and gave a rousing speech 2. The Pisacane would later become the 50th Garibaldi Brigade and later the twelfth division Garibaldi 'Nedo' 3. At the end of the war, therefore, Moranino seemed to have acquired all the necessary requirements to be considered a hero of the Resistance.