To our comrade Luciano

To our comrade Luciano

Our comrade Luciano died on 12 May 2026. This is a great loss to our organisation. It is true that all militants are invaluable, but there are some whose passing leaves a particularly significant void in our ranks, and this is certainly the case with our comrade. Fundamentally, it was the quality of Luciano’s commitment to the cause that makes us feel the loss of this comrade so keenly – a quality of commitment of which we shall give a few examples after retracing his political journey.

Luciano came from a relatively modest family (his father was a carpenter) which, without being militant, held left-wing sympathies and, above all, was very open-minded and welcoming. There is no such thing as determinism: one can become a communist militant even with bourgeois and reactionary parents. In Luciano’s case, his rejection of this society—and thus the start of his journey towards militancy—was fostered by his family background, even though, later on, the radical nature of his commitment could shock members of his family.

Luciano studied chemistry at university, which would have enabled him to become an engineer – a better-paid profession than that of a teacher, which he chose instead. But this choice, like his decision to pursue research, was in keeping with his vocation to pass on his knowledge and experience to the younger generations. Our comrade always said that his primary commitment was to militancy, but this did not prevent him from approaching his professional work with great dedication, which earned him the deep respect of his students. In particular, what he wanted to pass on to them was, above all, a way of thinking – of which knowledge was merely a tool – to enable them to think for themselves, in a way that differed from the prevailing orthodoxy. Thus, at a time when environmentalism was not yet in vogue, Luciano worked tirelessly to establish the environmental sciences programme at the University of Naples, and one of his greatest pleasures was when, accompanied by his students, he would visit a sewage treatment works, the seaside or a polluted site to take samples for analysis and study what should or could have been done to clean up the site, particularly if society were free from the drive for profit.

In fact, his expertise and dedication could have enabled him to pursue a ‘career’ in academia, but he turned his back on that perspective, preferring to devote himself to his teaching and his militancy.

Luciano became a militant in the early 1970s, a period marked in many countries by intense student unrest and major workers’ struggles. The best-known example of this situation is, of course, the May 1968 movement in France, where the student revolt was followed by the largest strike in the history of the workers movement, involving nearly ten million workers over several weeks. And it was precisely in Italy that this movement continued on a large scale in 1969 with what came to be known as the ‘Hot Autumn’ or the ‘Rampant May’. The workers’ struggles were concentrated mainly in the industrial north of the country, particularly in Turin, where there had already been, since 1962, a long history of strikes challenging the stranglehold of the unions. For a considerable period, we saw the formation and growth of numerous groups such as Potere Operaio and Lotta Continua, belonging to the ‘extra-parliamentary Left’, which denounced the policies of the Communist Party and the unions, as well as participation in the electoral process. These movements were very active in the working class and in universities, and they all regarded themselves as ‘revolutionaries’, but they were trapped by ‘anti-imperialist’ and ‘anti-fascist’ myths. In Naples, the working class component of these movements was much smaller than in the North, and they were active mainly at the university.

It was in this context that our comrade Luciano, who was then a student, became politically active in a group called the ‘University Left’, which claimed to follow Lenin and was influenced by the ideas of the Frankfurt School. As the workers’ struggles and student agitation began to subside, the group disbanded, but a number of its members and sympathisers remained in contact and continued to meet at Luciano’s flat. These individuals were dissatisfied with the responses put forward by the various leftist groups until they began to learn about the positions and experience of the Communist Left. They formed a discussion group called the Frazione comunista di Napoli and made contact with the ICC, which already had a small presence in the North; however, it was mainly through discussions with members of the French section—in particular with our comrade Marc Chirik—that they adopted the positions of our organisation. Luciano and other members of the circle joined the ICC in 1976, just over a year after its foundation.

The development of Luciano and his comrades is remarkable because, following the ebb in the workers’ struggles in Italy (and in the rest of the world), the vast majority of those who had taken part in the mobilisations of the early 1970s fell into demoralisation and despair. It was this despair, in particular, that led some of them to abandon all political activity, to join the traditional left-wing parties or to embark on the tragic dead end of terrorism with groups such as the ‘Brigate Rosse’ (‘Red Brigades’) and ‘Prima Linea’. And indeed, Luciano was part of the very small minority of participants in the protests that followed the ‘Hot Autumn’ who refused to capitulate in the face of the toxic atmosphere of the ‘Years of Lead’, choosing instead to take his place in the historic struggle of the working class.

From that moment on, Luciano became fully involved in the life of the ICC. This involvement in our organisation’s international activities was further strengthened when he was appointed delegate of the Italian section to the ICC’s central organ. And it is worth quoting the words of Comrade B., who had preceded him in this role: “I would return from the plenary meetings of the International Bureau and be unable to give a report on the discussions, whereas Luciano, after being designated as the section’s delegate to the IB, would return and give detailed and very useful reports that the section could put to practical use.” In fact, this remark by Comrade B. reveals two of Luciano’s great qualities. On the one hand, an outstanding sense of responsibility and a determination to carry out the tasks entrusted to him by the organisation with the utmost rigour. On the other hand, a deep commitment to the collective nature of militant activity. He expressed these qualities once again just a few hours before his death, during a conversation he had with a delegation of two comrades from the ICC who had come from other countries. While he was finding it increasingly difficult to speak, and knowing that he was nearing the end of his life, he uttered words that summed up his commitment. In this way, he sought to express his gratitude to the ICC and its militants. He thus confirmed what we had observed over half a century: his commitment to the collective work of our organisation had been an essential pillar of his existence.

In his final words, he also emphasised the vital importance of our organisation and the urgent need not only to provide it with sound principles and a solid programme, but also to defend it tooth and nail. He referred to his participation in the struggle waged by the ICC in 2001 against a faction that had formed within the ICC’s central organ and which, under the name ‘Internal Fraction of the ICC’ and later ‘International Group of the Communist Left’, ultimately set itself the objective of destroying our organisation. Luciano played a leading role in this struggle and, whilst he did not emphasise the importance of his contribution during the conversation, he did recall the satisfaction he felt at having been able to take part in it. [1]

The ICC has always maintained that militant commitment means taking part in a struggle. It has emphasised that a fighting spirit is a fundamental characteristic of this commitment, and our comrade always demonstrated this spirit to the highest degree, right up to the very end of his life. One might even say that the passing years only served to strengthen this fighting spirit, as well as, more generally, the quality of his militancy, while a number of ICC militants have not always managed to avoid—as has often been the case in the workers movement—a loss of their fighting spirit, their conviction or the political clarity they had previously acquired.

This fighting spirit was also evident in his contributions to the press concerning the attacks the ICC continues to face, as well as his critique of the slidings affecting the proletarian political milieu, which he monitored scrupulously.

Finally, his last words emphasised the vital importance of passing on to new generations the lessons and experience of a generation that can only dwindle further and eventually disappear. He said that “the passing of an old militant may cause anxiety, but this passing must not be a source of demoralisation; on the contrary, it must serve as an incentive for young people to assume their responsibility towards the working class”. Right up until the end of his life, Luciano put this concern for the new generations into practice through his militancy by engaging very actively and effectively in discussions with contacts, sympathisers and future militants.

In fact, Comrade Luciano’s life in itself constitutes a major contribution to the training of new militants. These comrades cannot help but be inspired by his example of dedication, fighting spirit, reflection and the ability to question himself when he realised he had made a mistake (an approach whose necessity he reaffirmed in his final conversation with the delegation).

In conclusion, we wish to express to his partner and his two children our deepest sympathy and solidarity.

ICC, 28 August 2026

 

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[1] In doing so, once again and for the last time, he expressed the very essence of militant activity: the struggle – an approach that was also that of Marx when he replied that his idea of happiness was to fight. See the questionnaire submitted to him by his daughters in 1865.