Giuseppe Di Vittorio

Giuseppe Di Vittorio, also known under the pseudonym Nicoletti (August 11, 1892 – November 3, 1957), was an Italian syndicalist trade unionist and communist politician, one of the most influential leaders of the labor movement after World War I.

He was born at Cerignola, Apulia, into a family of poor agricultural day laborers. As an autodidact, Di Vittorio became active in the socialist movement from adolescence: at fifteen, he was a member of the Socialist Youth Circle in Cerignola, and, in 1911, moved to lead the Camera del Lavoro in Minervino Murge, and then the one in Bari. Giuseppe Di Vittorio was among the most influential union leaders in the history of the labor movement, leading the Confederazione Generate Italiana dei Lavoratori (CGIL) in its refounding after Fascism and the powerful World Federation of Trade Unions(FSM) after World War II. After his father's death Di Vittorio was forced to leave school and work as a day laborer. He joined the May 1904 general strike, an event during which five workers were killed by troops in Cerignola. Di Vittorio was strongly influenced by the growth of peasants' organizations and the spread of socialist ideas, giving rise to his participation in the local young socialist organization in Cerignola. He was radicalized by affiliating with the national Federazione Giovanile Socialista (Federation of Young Socialists), an organization led by syndicalists in opposition to the official Socialist Party Youth Federation.

As a native of the Mezzogiorno, Di Vittorio became involved in the syndicalist plans for solving the region's acute problems (in the manner illustrated by the Fasci Siciliani in final decade of the 19th century). A partisan of insurgence, Di Vittorio became a leader of the anarcho-syndicalist trade union Unione Sindacale Italiana after its formation in 1912. Unlike the majority of the group (which opposed militarism and Italy's entry into World War I), Di Vittorio, Alceste De Ambris, and Filippo Corridoni advocated irredentism. He subsequently fought in the conflict, and was discharged after being gravely wounded.

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