Mario Savio
| Mario Savio | |
|---|---|
Mario Savio on Sproul Hall steps, 1966
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| Born |
8 December 1942 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | 6 November 1996 (aged 53) Sebastopol, California, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Martin Van Buren High School, San Francisco State University |
| Occupation | University lecturer |
| Known for | Political activism |
| Spouse(s) | Lynne Hollander |
 Bodies Upon The Gears Speech on YouTube
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Mario Savio (December 8, 1942 – November 6, 1996) was an American political activist and a key member in the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. He is most famous for his passionate speeches, especially the "put your bodies upon the gears" address given at Sproul Hall, University of California, Berkeley on December 2, 1964.
Savio remains historically relevant as an icon of the earliest phase of the 1960s counterculture movement.
Savio was born in New York City to a Sicilian-born Italian-American father who designed and manufactured restaurant equipment. Mario's mother was also of Italian ancestry, though born in the US, and worked as a retail salesperson. Both his parents were devout Catholics and, as an altar boy, Savio planned to become a priest.
He graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens at the top of his class in 1960 and then went to Manhattan College on a full scholarship as well as Queens College. When he finished in 1963, he spent the summer working with a Catholic relief organization in Taxco, Mexico helping to improve the sanitary problems by building facilities in the slums.
His parents had moved to Los Angeles and that autumn he enrolled at University of California, Berkeley. In March the following year he was arrested while demonstrating against the San Francisco Hotel Association for excluding blacks from non-menial jobs. He was charged with trespassing, along with 167 other protesters. While in jail, a cellmate asked if he was heading for Mississippi that summer to help with the Civil Rights project.
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