# Victorio Codovilla > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Victorio_Codovilla > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Victorio_Codovilla.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorio_Codovilla > Source revision: 1348697238 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox officeholder | name = Victorio Codovilla | image = Victorio Codovilla.jpg | caption = | order = President of the [Communist Party of Argentina](/source/Communist_Party_of_Argentina) | term_start1 = 3 March 1963 | term_end1 = 15 April 1970 | prime_minister1 = | 1blankname1 = {{nowrap|Secretary-General}} | 1namedata1 = [Gerónimo Arnedo Álvarez](/source/Ger%C3%B3nimo_Arnedo_%C3%81lvarez) | predecessor1 = | successor1 = [Fanny Edelman](/source/Fanny_Edelman) | order2 = Secretary-General of the [Communist Party of Argentina](/source/Communist_Party_of_Argentina) | prime_minister2 = | term_start2 = 17 November 1941 | term_end2 = 3 March 1963 | predecessor2 = [Gerónimo Arnedo Álvarez](/source/Ger%C3%B3nimo_Arnedo_%C3%81lvarez) | successor2 = [Gerónimo Arnedo Álvarez](/source/Ger%C3%B3nimo_Arnedo_%C3%81lvarez) | order3 = | term_start3 = | term_end3 = | predecessor3 = | successor3 = | birth_name = Vittorio Codovilla | birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|02|04|df=y}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1970|04|15|1894|02|04|df=y}} | birth_place = [Ottobiano](/source/Ottobiano), [Lombardy](/source/Lombardy), {{flag|Kingdom of Italy}} | death_place = [Moscow](/source/Moscow), [Russian SFSR](/source/Russian_SFSR), {{flag|USSR}} | party = [Italian Socialist Party](/source/Italian_Socialist_Party) (1911–1912)
[Communist Party of Argentina](/source/Communist_Party_of_Argentina) (1920–1970)
}} '''Victorio Codovilla''', born ''Vittorio Codovilla'' (8 February 1894 – 15 April 1970), was an [Italian](/source/Italian_people)-born [Argentine](/source/Argentine_people) [socialist](/source/socialism) and later [communist](/source/communism) politician. At first a member of the [Italian Socialist Party](/source/Italian_Socialist_Party), he emigrated to [Argentina](/source/Argentina) in 1912 and went on to hold prominent posts in the [Comintern](/source/Comintern) and the [Communist Party of Argentina](/source/Communist_Party_of_Argentina) (PCA), of which he was General Secretary in 1941–1963 and President in 1963–1970. ==Early life and politics== Codovilla was born in [Ottobiano](/source/Ottobiano) in 1894 in to a working-class family and joined the [Italian Socialist Party](/source/Italian_Socialist_Party) in 1911.{{cite book | last=Lazić | first=Branko M. | last2=Drachkovitch | first2=Milorad M. | title=Biographical dictionary of the Comintern | publication-place=Stanford, Calif. | date=1986 | isbn=0-8179-8401-1 | oclc=13525572 |url=https://archive.org/details/biographical-comintern |postscript=. (1973 version online)}} He emigrated to [Argentina](/source/Argentina) in 1912, where he remained active in international socialist politics. He then joined the [Communist Party of Argentina](/source/Communist_Party_of_Argentina) (PCA) in 1920, being elected to its [Central Committee](/source/Central_Committee) and [Politburo](/source/Politburo) (on which he would serve until his death in 1970).{{sfn|Lazić|Drachkovitch|1986|p=77}} In 1924 Codovilla represented the PCA at the [Executive Committee of the Communist International](/source/Executive_Committee_of_the_Communist_International) (ECCI) in [Moscow](/source/Moscow). Afterwards, he worked for the communist social service organization [International Red Aid](/source/International_Red_Aid). In December 1926 he made an address before the ECCI and was made one of its alternate members.{{sfn|Lazić|Drachkovitch|1986|p=77}} Attending the congress of the [League Against Imperialism](/source/League_Against_Imperialism) in [Brussels](/source/Brussels) in 1927, Codovilla led the eighth congress of the Communist Party of Argentina in 1928 and participated in the first conference of [Latin America](/source/Latin_America)n communist parties in [Buenos Aires](/source/Buenos_Aires) the following year.{{sfn|Lazić|Drachkovitch|1986|p=77}} ==Comintern advisor in Spain== Codovilla was sent to [Madrid](/source/Madrid) to advise the [Communist Party of Spain](/source/Communist_Party_of_Spain_(main)) on behalf of the Comintern. Under the alias ''Luis Medina'', he presented a paper to the PCE's fourth congress in March 1932, proclaiming that the new [Second Republic](/source/Spanish_Second_Republic) was supported by [monarchism](/source/monarchists) on the right and "[social fascists](/source/social_fascism)" (such as the members of the [Spanish Socialist Workers' Party](/source/Spanish_Socialist_Workers'_Party)) on the left. He further predicted that the administration of President [Manuel Azaña](/source/Manuel_Aza%C3%B1a) would quickly become a "clear-cut [fascist](/source/Fascism) dictatorship" and stressed the need for Spanish communists to create revolutionary committees and establish [Soviets](/source/Soviet_(council)) in order to stem the [counterrevolution](/source/Counter-revolutionary).{{cite book | last=Payne | first=Stanley G. | title=The Spanish Civil War, the Soviet Union, and communism | publisher=Yale University Press | publication-place=New Haven | date=2004 | isbn=0-300-13078-3 | oclc=567997973 |page=32}} With the outbreak of the [Spanish Civil War](/source/Spanish_Civil_War) in 1936, Codovilla remained in Madrid advising the PCE, but has been regarded as generally less effective than his [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona)-based counterpart [Ernő Gerő](/source/Ern%C5%91_Ger%C5%91).{{sfn|Payne|2004|p=188}} His position was further eclipsed by the arrival of Boris Stepanov, a favorite of [Joseph Stalin](/source/Joseph_Stalin), in February 1937.{{sfn|Payne|2004|p=209}} By the summer of 1937 reports to Moscow by fellow Comintern advisor [Palmiro Togliatti](/source/Palmiro_Togliatti) were critical of both the state of the PCE leadership and Codovilla. In September, Codovilla was recalled to Moscow and superseded by Togliatti.{{sfn|Payne|2004|p=236}} == General Secretary and President of the PCA == Codovilla remained in Moscow until early 1941, when he returned to Argentina. The same year, he was appointed Secretary-General of the Argentine Communist Party; he held this office until March 1963, when he became President of the party. His term as Secretary-General was marked by strong loyalty to the [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union), and opposition to both the regime of [Juan Perón](/source/Juan_Per%C3%B3n) and the political development following [the 1955 coup d'état](/source/Revoluci%C3%B3n_Libertadora) which overthrew Perón. Codovilla attended the [19th Congress of the CPSU](/source/19th_Congress_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) in October 1952, which he addressed on behalf of the PCA; Codovilla also represented and spoke for the PCA at the [20th](/source/20th_Congress_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) and the [21st](/source/21st_Congress_of_the_Communist_Party_of_the_Soviet_Union) congresses of the CPSU, held in 1956 and 1959 respectively. He performed the same functions at the [International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties](/source/1957_International_Meeting_of_Communist_and_Workers_Parties) in November 1957. Codovilla died in Moscow in November 1970.{{cite book |last1=Drachkovitch |first1=Milorad M. |title=Biographical Dictionary of the Comintern |date=1973 |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |location=Stanford, Calif. |isbn=978-0-8179-8403-8 |pages=77–78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UWALiF59JU4C&dq=Victorio+Codovilla&pg=PA77 |access-date=3 October 2021}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Codovilla, Victorio}} Category:1970 deaths Category:1894 births Category:Argentine expatriates in the Soviet Union Category:Italian emigrants to Argentina Category:Argentine communists Category:Argentine people of the Spanish Civil War --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Victorio Codovilla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorio_Codovilla) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorio_Codovilla?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.