Mario Bonfantini 

My name is Mario Bonfantini, and, if you have time, I’d like to tell you my story. I was born on May 15th, 1904, in Novara. I graduated from the University of Turin with a degree in Italian Literature. In 1937, I married Mariel Molino, an actress known for her role in the TV series “Secrets of a Nanny.”I was a writer, a journalist, and even a screenwriter, but above all, I was an anti-fascist. I founded one of the first anti-fascist political groups, the Interparty Committee of Arona. I was sentenced to deportation to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Germany, but I managed to escape by jumping off the train! Later, I joined the Resistance and became a partisan. My comrades and I liberated Domodossola from the Nazi-fascists. The Partisan Republic of Ossola was established, and I became its Commissioner... under the pseudonym Mario Bandini. I was also the Commissioner for the Press, and I had to create a textbook for middle school: an anthology of literary texts inspired by the great ideals of the Resistance: freedom and equality. I taught French Literature at the Universities of Milan, Naples, and Turin, where I passed away on November 23rd, 1978, at the age of 74. I was a writer, a journalist, and even a screenwriter, but above all, I was an anti-fascist. I founded one of the first anti-fascist political groups, the Interparty Committee of Arona. I was sentenced to deportation to the Mauthausen concentration camp in Germany, but I managed to escape by jumping off the train! Later, I joined the Resistance and became a partisan. My comrades and I liberated Domodossola from the Nazi-fascists. The Partisan Republic of Ossola was established, and I became its Commissioner... under the pseudonym Mario Bandini. I was also the Commissioner for the Press, and I had to create a textbook for middle school: an anthology of literary texts inspired by the great ideals of the Resistance: freedom and equality. I taught French Literature at the Universities of Milan, Naples, and Turin, where I passed away on November 23rd, 1978, at the age of 74.