{{Short description|Italian anarchist (1844–1909)}} {{Infobox person | name = Celso Ceretti | image = Celso Ceretti - Cropped.jpg | caption = Ceretti in a photograph | birth_date = {{birth date|1844|01|13|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Mirandola]], [[Emilia-Romagna]], [[Papal States]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1909|01|12|1844|01|13|df=y}} | death_place = [[Ferrara]], [[Emilia-Romagna]], [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] | occupation = Politician }} '''Celso Ceretti''' (13 January 1844 – 12 January 1909) was an Italian supporter of [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]], an internationalist [[anarchist]] and then a [[socialist]] politician.
== Early years == Celso Ceretti was born on 23 January 1844 in [[Mirandola]], [[Emilia-Romagna]], at the time part of the [[Papal States]], the son of Luigi Ceretti and Maria Malagodi. His father had been imprisoned for the riots of 1831 and educated his children in democratic ideals.{{sfn|Masini|1979}} When he was fourteen, he enlisted in Garibaldi's expedition to [[Sicily]].{{sfn|Celso Ceretti: Estel Negre}} He joined in 1859. In 1860–1861, he served in Sicily and the mainland with the rank of sergeant. In 1862, he was in [[Aspromonte]]. In 1866, he became an officer of the 9th regiment. In 1867, he served in [[Agro Romano]].{{sfn|Masini|1979}} He became one of Garibaldi's closest followers and later served as a link between him and the [[labor movement]].{{sfn|Celso Ceretti: Estel Negre}}
== Activist == In 1870, Cerretti joined Garibaldi's [[Army of the Vosges]].{{sfn|Masini|1979}} In 1871, he participated in the defense of France and the [[Paris Commune]]. That year, he founded the Anti-Catholic Republican Society in Mirandola. Ceretti was one of the founders of the Italian Section of the [[International Workingmen's Association]] (IWA).{{sfn|Celso Ceretti: Estel Negre}}
By 1871, Garibaldi was still respected by socialists elsewhere in Italy, but it was only in [[Romagna]] that his leadership was seen as essential for a people's republic. At first, Ceretti, [[Lodovico Nabruzzi]] and [[Paride Suzzara Verdi]] shared this view.{{sfn|Ravindranathan|1981|p=506}} Garibaldi planned to call a democratic congress, but he canceled it due to the factional squabbles. With [[Mikhail Bakunin]]'s support, Nabruzzi, Ceretti, [[Andrea Costa]] and others arranged a conference on 17 March 1872 in [[Bologna]], where most of the internationalist sections of Romagna were represented.{{sfn|Ravindranathan|1981|p=512}} The congress rejected [[Giuseppe Mazzini]]'s view that the question of social reform could follow creation of a republic and also voted against participating in elections, in effect moving towards Bakunin's position.{{sfn|Ravindranathan|1981|p=513}}
On 11 March 1873, Ceretti was arrested for his IWA activities and imprisoned for five months. He was then tried for "conspiracy" and acquitted. Later that year, he tried to organize a second IWA Congress in Mirandola, but this was forbidden by the authorities.{{sfn|Celso Ceretti: Estel Negre}} In 1873, he commanded a force in Spain against the [[Carlist]]s. In 1874, he was assistant to [[Mićo Ljubibratić]] in [[Herzegovina]]. In 1875, he commanded the Italian Legion in [[Serbia]] with the rank of major in the struggle against [[Turkey|Turkish]] rule.{{sfn|Masini|1979}}
== Mirandola stabbing and later years == {{Main article|Mirandola stabbing}} In 1886, Ceretti founded the Society of Radical Veterans. In 1888, in Mirandola, he founded the socialist periodical ''Il Sole dell'Avvenire (The Sun of the Future)''. In 1890, he was the first socialist to enter the municipal council of Mirandola.{{sfn|Celso Ceretti: Estel Negre}}
He came into conflict with the anarchists of the [[Intransigents of London and Paris]] group after they published a text targeting [[Amilcare Cipriani]], another defector from anarchism who had become a socialist politician.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=PINI, Vittorio, Achillo |url=https://militants-anarchistes.info/spip.php?article9786 |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=Dictionnaire international des militants anarchistes}}</ref> In their text, the ''[[Manifesto degl’ anarchici in lingua italiana al popolo d’Italia]]'', the anarchists accused him of defending nationalist positions.<ref name=":1" /> In response to these criticisms, Ceretti used his newspaper to target the anarchists in question, describing them as [[Informant|police informants]] and [[Agent provocateur|provocateurs]].<ref name=":1" /> The insults contained in the newspaper greatly displeased the main subjects, [[Vittorio Pini]] and [[Luigi Parmeggiani]], who traveled to Mirandola to 'settle the score' with him.<ref name=":1" /> They stabbed him, and he survived, according to Pini simply because, upon entering his house, he noticed Ceretti had a child, which reportedly prompted him to spare his life.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=11 July 1889 |title=La bande Pini |trans-title=Pini's gang |work=La République française |language=fr}}</ref>
Ceretti died on 12 January 1909 in [[Ferrara]].{{sfn|Celso Ceretti: Estel Negre}}
== References == {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
== Sources == {{refbegin}} * {{citation|ref={{harvid|Celso Ceretti: Estel Negre}}|chapter-url=http://www.estelnegre.org/anarcoefemerides/1201.html|chapter=Celso Ceretti|publisher=Estel Negre|title=Anarcoefemèrides del 12 de gener|date=12 January 2013|access-date=5 September 2013}} * {{cite book|url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/celso-ceretti_(Dizionario-Biografico)/|language=Italian|last=Masini|first=Pier Carlo|title=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani|chapter=Ceretti, Celso|access-date=5 September 2013|volume=23|year=1979}} * {{citation|title=The Paris Commune and the First International in Italy: Republicanism versus Socialism, 1871-1872|last=Ravindranathan|first=T. R.|journal=The International History Review|volume=3|issue=4|date=October 1981|pages=482–516|publisher=Taylor & Francis|doi=10.1080/07075332.1981.9640259|jstor=40105174}} {{refend}}
{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceretti, Celso}} [[Category:1844 births]] [[Category:1909 deaths]] [[Category:Italian anarchists]] [[Category:People from Mirandola]]