Nello Garavini belonged to a family of well-known anarchists in the small town of Castel Bolognese . His father Pietro (1869-1933), in addition to being a militant with a certain influence in the local area, ran a tavern for many years
Nello joined the anarchist movement when very young, attending numerous libertarians conferences including those of Errico Malatesta, who influenced him decisively. An avid reader of different social and political texts, he got a good self-education. He also met the anarchist anti militarist Augusto Mazetti, when he was held in the asylum in nearby Imola, and became one of his greatest friends.
June 1914 witnessed the “Red Week”, during which crowds in protest assaulted and destroyed the railway station of Castel Bolognese. When the Great War broke out he joined the anti-intervencionist group and became a remained a radical anti-militarist, even when Italy entered the conflict, which was very risky.
In 1916, together with a group of young anarchists he founded the “Gruppo Anarchica Giovanile “(GAG Anarchist Youth) and the Libertarian Library . Among the supporters of the group was his brother Simone (Cino) who was arresteds and jailed for a year. Nello organized protests against interventionism and patriotic demonstrations and secretly spread a subversive manifesto urging desertion among the soldiers. Nello was specially active in the deserters movement which swept through Emilia-Romagne.
During the war, he actively participated in the “Red Biennium” riots and promoted the trend of organizing the anarchist movement on Malatesta’s principles). He actively participated in the uprising against the ‘scarcity of life’ that took place between 2 and 3 July 1919 in Castel Bolognese, as well as other Italian townss.
Nello Garavini set up the Union of Castel Bolognese, which joined the Italian Anarchist Trade Union (USI) and acted as a branch of the headquarters of Imola. At this time Nello also secretly took charge of “material preparation” for the revolution, procuring weapons for his comrades (Brescia, Valdarno, etc.).
GAG was represented at numerous meetings.. Cesena (7 September 1919), Bologna (14 September 1919), etc. the National Congress of the Italian Anarchist Union (IAU), and the Second National Congress of the IAU held in Ancona.
In 1921 Nello met Emma Neri, a young schoolteacher born into a socialist family, and she soon became his companion. Continue reading “anarchists we love: 1. Emma and Nello”
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