From 3d444b58e2d42cc222ab560eab1e8bd6b994f3cb Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Valeria Graziano Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2022 15:33:06 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] !publish! --- content/research/maddeningrhythms.md | 11 +++++++++-- 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/content/research/maddeningrhythms.md b/content/research/maddeningrhythms.md index 4c1bb3c..1d7cd39 100644 --- a/content/research/maddeningrhythms.md +++ b/content/research/maddeningrhythms.md @@ -29,10 +29,17 @@ Finding their own voice and fighting for keeping it was more than a metaphor for ## Luigi Firrao -We first encountered the story of the Lebole workers and the impact that MTM had on their lives and health conditions during our research residency at the archive of Fondazione ISEC in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan. +We first encountered the story of the Lebole workers and the impact that MTM had on their lives and health conditions during our research residency at the archive of Fondazione ISEC in Sesto San Giovanni, near Milan. Their story was "told" to by Luigi Firrao, who followed it meticulously for a number of years. Firrao had a number of interviews with the Leboline, where he chatted with them about their experiences, as well as recording the powerful lyrics of their political choruses. He then wrote several newspaper articles denouncing the hidden violence of the new management techniques which were silently creeping in Italian factories since the early 1960s. Firrao also left us an exceptional collection of newspaper cut-outs, articles, and reportages on the theme of MTM and its impact on the life of the workers. -We encountered this story as "told" by Luigi Firrao, who followed it meticulously for a number of years. Firrao had a number of interviews with the Leboline, where he chatted with them about their experiences, as well as recording the powerful lyrics of their political choruses. He wrote several newspaper articles denouncing the hidden violence of the new management techniques which were silently creeping in Italian factories since the early 1960s. Firrao also left us an exceptional collection of newspaper cut-outs, articles, and reportages on the theme of MTM and its impact on the life of the workers. +>Luigi Firrao was born in Rome in 1927 and died in 1975. In 1944, he joined the partisan Partito d’Azione and in 1946 became a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). Between 1948 and 1953, the PCI sent him to Viterbo to organize the struggles of agricultural workers, activities which led to his arrest and multiple convictions. +>He was then hired by Misal, a company that manufactured machine tools. Within Misal, despite his political ideas, he managed to make a remarkable career and assume a managerial position. During the 1960s, Firrao became interested in various issues related to his role as manager, and in particular the subject of work organization and, in parallel, the subject of working conditions in industry. + +>Together with Giulia D’Angelo, his life partner since 1962, he carried out research on popular culture, collaborating with the "Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano", with Nuova Scena, Nanni Ricordi, Gianni Bosio, Dario Fo and Franca Rame. In 1963-64, Luigi and his wife collaborated with ARCI (a national network of recreational workers clubs) to organize “comizi cantati” (political speeches that were sung rather than talked) and in Rome they set up a Sicilian storytellers show with Ignazio Buttitta, Otello Profazio, Vito Santangelo and Ciccio Busacca. In 1965, Luigi and Giulia organized the first Italian political cabaret, "l'Armadio", based in Rome in via La Spezia, in the San Giovanni district. + +>In 1969, after publicly taking position in favor of the student movement, he was expelled from the party and joined the "Manifesto" movement with his wife. From the years 1968-69 until his death, together with Giulia, he dealt with the capitalist organization of labor, interviewing numerous male and female workers. Firrao then organized a series of lectures on the subject at the University of Rome. + +*The following text is a modified translation of [*Luigi Firrao, un uomo dai molti talenti nelle carte del suo archivio*](https://archivio.fondazioneisec.it/percorsi/luigi-firrao-un-uomo-poliedrico-nelle-carte-del-suo-archivio), by Alberto De Cristofaro* ## About Maddening Rhythms Zine