Claudia Ruggerini
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Claudia Ruggerini (also known as Marisa; 1 February 1922, Milan - 4 July 2016, Rome) was an Italian partisan, activist, doctor, and neuropsychiatrist. During World War II, she joined the Italian Communist Party to overthrow the government of Benito Mussolini in July 1943.
Claudia Ruggerini was born in 1922 in Milan, the former Kingdom of Italy.[1][2] Her family was from Brianza.[2] Her mother worked as a masseuse and later as a free trader.[3] Her father was a part of the Italian Communist Party.[3] He was beaten to death in 1934 by a fascist patrol in front of his house when Ruggerini was twelve years old.[1]
Ruggerini referred to herself as "a nerd," as she was studious and had a love for the arts.[2] In Venice, where her mother worked, Ruggerini went to churches, to the Biennale, and to see films that could not circulate in the fascist and provincial Italy.[2]
Education
Ruggerini obtained a teaching diploma in classical studies.[3] Afterwards, Ruggerini began studying industrial chemistry at university, then switched to medicine in 1942.[3] Upon studying medicine, Ruggerini met several anti-fascist students. When at the university, she met Hans, who was her "sweetheart" and had emigrated from Vienna because he was Jewish.[2]
Ruggerini then joined the 107th Garibaldi Brigade,[4] the fifth column on behalf of the Committee for National Liberation (CLN) inside San Vittore Prison, where Hans had been incarcerated.[2] In July 1943, Ruggerini met the leader of the Neapolitan Communist Party Antonio D'Ambrosio,[3] and alongside her peers, Ruggerini joined the anti-fascism movement.[1] She was the only woman in the initiative committee.[2]
Communist Party activism
Ruggerini joined the clandestine Communist Party of Naples[citation needed] where she met artists, writers, and journalists who served as a source of training and cultural enrichment[3] and who would later become her close friends.[1]
Beginning in 1943, as part of the anti-fascist movement, Ruggerini distributed underground press materials, passed messages by bicycle, delivered weapons to the partisans of Valdossola, and stole anti-fascist intelligence from San Vittore Prison.[3]