NCJ Number
60882
Journal
Terrorism Volume: 2 Issue: 3 AND 4 Dated: SPECIAL ISSUE (1979) Pages: 213-230
Date Published
1979
Length
18 pages
Annotation
A BIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF GIANGIACOMO FELTRINELLI INDICATES THAT THIS IMPORTANT 'CAPITALIST' ACTUALLY SERVED AS A KEY ORGANIZER OF EUROPEAN AND SOUTH AMERICAN TERRORISM UNTIL HIS DEATH IN A BOMB EXPLOSION IN 1972.
Abstract
ON MARCH 14, 1972, A BODY WAS FOUND NEAR MILAN, ITALY. BEFORE HIS DEATH, THE VICTIM HAD TRIED TO BLOW UP A PYLON OF THE NORTH ITALIAN POWER GRID. THE CORPSE WAS VIRTUALLY UNRECOGNIZABLE, BUT IDENTIFICATION BY POLICE REVEALED HIM TO BE ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT CITIZENS OF ITALY, GIANGIACOMO FELTRINELLI. DESPITE HIS STATUS AS HEIR TO AN INDUSTRIAL DYNASTY IN ITALY, FELTRINELLI SERVED AS A MAJOR PRODUCER AND DISTRIBUTOR OF IDEOLOGICAL MATERIALS MORE RADICAL THAN THE MESSAGES EMANATING FROM MOSCOW-ORIENTED PARTIES. THE BOOKS HE PUBLISHED AND THE MONEY HE SPENT CONTRIBUTED GREATELY TO THE CHAOS WHICH ENGULFED ITALY. HE STIMULATED THE GROWTH OF THE INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST MOVEMENT BY PROVIDING TERRORISTS WITH THE PUBLICATIONS AND FUNDS FOR THEIR ACTIVITIES. HE MAY HAVE BEEN A CHIEF SUPPORTER OF THE RED BRIGADES. MANY REGARDED HIM AS A DON QUIXOTE, YET HE WAS BOTH A TRUE CAPITALIST AND A GENUINE REVOLUTIONARY; HE PROBABLY HAD PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS. HIS BACKGROUND INDICATES EXPERIENCE WITH THE COMMUNIST GUERRILLAS FIGHTING AGAINST THE FASCISTS DURING WORLD WAR II. HIS FATHER COMMITTED SUICIDE IN 1936 AFTER BEING DENOUNCED BY MUSSOLINI'S SECRET POLICE; THIS PROBABLY CONTRIBUTED TO FELTRINELLI'S HATRED OF THE GOVERNMENT. DURING THE 1950'S AND 1960'S, HE USED HIS FAMILY FORTUNE AND BUSINESS TO SUPPORT THE ALGERIAN REVOLUTION, THE CUBAN REVOLUTION, AND THE ACTIVITIES OF CHE GUEVARA. HE ADVANCED THE CONCEPT OF URBAN GUERRILLA WARFARE AND VIEWED LEE HARVEY OSWALD AS THE PIONEER OF VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE. FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED. (TWK)