Ingrao, Pietro

(1915– )

   Born in Latina province near Rome, Ingrao began a lifetime of antifascist activity in adolescence. After joining the Partito Comunista Italiano/Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1940, he earned the distinction of being sought by the Fascist police because he had become one of the leaders of the clandestine communist group operating in Rome. From a temporary safe house in Calabria, he managed to reach Milan,where he became one of the editors of the clandestine newspaper Unita, a post in which he was confirmed for 10 years beginning in 1947.

   From his first election in 1948 to 1992, Ingrao served steadily as a member of the Chamber of Deputies. In 1963, he was chosen vice president of the Communist Parliamentary Group. Five years later, he was elected president of the Parliamentary Group and retained that post until 1972, when he was put in charge of interregional coordination. In 1975, he became director of the party’s Study Center for State Reform. He was elected to serve as president of the Chamber of Deputies between 1976 and 1979, and when he was redesignated for that post he refused in order to serve on the Committee for Constitutional Affairs. Ingrao, long identified as one of the most influential members of the Central Committee, left the party in 1993. At the Bologna convention of the PCI in 1991, Ingrao struggled to retain much of the traditional symbolism of the West’s leading communist party. While he did not carry the day, it was clear that he spoke for much of the working-class base of the party. Ingrao supported the Partito di Rifondazione Comunista/Communist Refoundation (PRC) in the 2004 European elections. He remains proud of the communist heritage of the Italian left.