Vincenzo Moscatelli

My name is Vincenzo Moscatelli, my nickname is Cino. I was born in Novara in 1908, and I died in Vercelli in 1981. My mother, Carmelita Usellini, was a housewife, and my father, Enrico Moscatelli, worked on the railways. I was the fourth of seven children. I left school very early to find a job. I worked as a turner, mechanic, organizer, and political leader. Since I was young, I was involved with the Labour Chambers in a town where socialism was widely supported. When I was 12 years old, in 1920, I joined the workers' strike at the Rumi factory in Novara, where I worked as an apprentice. In July 1922, during the “Battle of Novara,” a conflict between fascists and antifascists, I helped to defend the local Labour Chamber. A few years later, I joined the Italian Communist Party secretly. In 1927, I was sent to Moscow and stayed there until 1930. Because of my anti-fascist activities I was arrested by the fascists in Bologna and sentenced to prison in 1931, but I was released in 1935 because of an amnesty, and I moved to Borgosesia. I married Maria Leoni, and we had two daughters. In my life I held many political roles. After the armistice in 1943, I led Resistance actions as a political leader in the Garibaldi Brigades in Biella, Valsesia, and Val d'Ossola. I also participated in the liberation of Novara and Milan. For this, I was awarded the Silver Medal for Military Valor at the end of the war. Later, when I retired to Borgosesia, I focused on studying the Resistance and I shared my documents on the liberation struggle with students and researchers. I also founded the Historical Institute of the Resistance of Valsesia.