Antonio Negri

Antonio "Toni" Negri (born 1 August 1933) is an Italian Marxist sociologist and political philosopher, best known for his co-authorship of Empire, and secondarily for his work on Spinoza.

Born in Padua, he became a political philosophy professor in his hometown university. Negri founded the Potere Operaio (Worker Power) group in 1969 and was a leading member of Autonomia Operaia. As one of the most popular theorists of Autonomism, he has published hugely influential books urging "revolutionary consciousness."

He was accused in the late 1970s of various charges including being the mastermind of the left-wing urban guerrilla organizationRed Brigades (Brigate Rosse or BR), involved in the May 1978 kidnapping of Aldo Moro, two-time Prime Minister of Italy, and leader of the Christian-Democrat Party, among others. Voice evidence suggested Negri made a threatening phone call on behalf of the BR, but the court was unable to conclusively prove his ties. The question of Negri's complicity with left-wing extremism is a controversial subject. He was indicted on a number of charges, including "association and insurrection against the state" (a charge which was later dropped), and sentenced for involvement in two murders.

Antonio Negri (poet)

Antonio Negri (1881–1966) was an Italian poet, best known for his works in Milanese language. He began writing in 1931, after retiring from work and relocating to Montevecchia, in Brianza, and was later a prolific author. One of his prominent works is On soldaa papà ("A soldier father", 1936), inspired by On papà soldaa ("A father soldier", 1935) by Giannino Sessa. While both works are based on the theme of a girl whose father dies in World War I, Negri's version is crudely anti-rhetoric (the orphan girl prostitutes herself to make a living) and conveys pacifist values that openly contrasted those promoted in Italy by the Fascist regime of the time.

Another prominent work by Negri was an adaptation of Carlo Collodi's Adventures of Pinocchio in verses, based on the poet's vision of Pinocchio as an "odysseic" and highly symbolical novel. In 1955, Negri also contributed to the realization of the Fontana a Pinocchio, a statuary fountain in Milan dedicated to Collodi's character, writing a line to be inscribed on the pedestal of Pinocchio's statue, namely: "E tu che mi guardi sei ben sicuro d'aver domato il burattino che vive in te?"