Ferruccio Parri

Ferruccio Parri (1890 – 1981) was a decorated World War I officer, anti-fascist crusader, and political leader. Imprisoned and exiled repeatedly by Mussolini's regime for organizing the escape of socialist leader Filippo Turati in 1926, Parri was a principal founder of the anti-fascist *Partito d'Azione* (Action Party).

Following the 1943 armistice, as military head of the *Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia* (CLNAI) under the codename 'Maurizio', Parri unified communist, socialist, and liberal partisan brigades into a formidable guerrilla army that liberated the major cities of northern Italy in April 1945. Captured and tortured by the SS in Milan, he was freed in a secret Swiss hostage exchange. In June 1945, Parri was chosen as Prime Minister of Italy's first post-fascist unity government, establishing the democratic framework that led to the proclamation of the Italian Republic.