Palmiro Togliatti | |
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General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party |
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In office May 1938 – August 1964 |
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Preceded by | Ruggero Grieco |
Succeeded by | Luigi Longo |
In office November 1926 – January 1934 |
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Preceded by | Antonio Gramsci |
Succeeded by | Ruggero Grieco |
Italian Minister of Justice | |
In office 21 June 1945 – 1 July 1946 |
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Prime Minister | Alcide De Gasperi |
Preceded by | Umberto Tupini |
Succeeded by | Fausto Gullo |
Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
In office 8 May 1948 – 21 August 1964 |
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Constituency | Lazio – XV |
Personal details | |
Born |
Genoa, Kingdom of Italy |
26 March 1893
Died | 21 August 1964 Yalta, Ukraine, Soviet Union |
(aged 71)
Nationality | Italian |
Political party |
Italian Socialist Party (1914–1921) Communist Party of Italy (1921–1943) Italian Communist Party (1943–1964) |
Spouse(s) | Rita Montagnana (1924–1948; separated) |
Domestic partner | Nilde Iotti (1948–1964; his death) |
Relations |
Eugenio Giuseppe Togliatti (brother) Maria Cristina Togliatti (sister) |
Children | Aldo Togliatti (1925–2011) Marisa Malagoli (1944–present; adopted) |
Residence | Modena, Emilia-Romagna |
Alma mater | University of Turin |
Profession | |
Signature |
Palmiro Togliatti (Italian: [palˈmiːro toʎˈʎatti] listen ; 26 March 1893 – 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death. He was nicknamed by his supporters Il Migliore ("The Best"). In 1930 he became a citizen of the Soviet Union.
Togliatti was a founding member of the Communist Party of Italy, and from 1927 until his death, he was the Secretary and the undisputed leader of the Italian Communist Party, except for a period from 1934 to 1938 in which he had been the representative in the Comintern, the international organization of the communist parties. After the dissolution of the Comintern in 1943 and the formation of the Cominform in 1947, he refused the post of Secretary General, offered to him directly by Stalin in 1951, preferring to remain at the head of the PCI.
From 1944 to 1945 Togliatti held the post of Deputy Prime Minister and from 1945 to 1946 he was appointed Minister of Justice in the governments that ruled Italy after the fall of Fascism. He was also a member of the Constituent Assembly of Italy.