1893-1964. Founding member of the Italian
Communist Party in 1921, and effectively
leader for almost 40 years from 1926 until
his death. In exile from 1926 until 1944, he
returned to become a member of Badoglio's
government and held office until 1946.
Togliatti trained as a lawyer, but served in
the army and was wounded during World War I.
He was associated with the revolutionary wing
of the Italian socialist party which left to
form the Communist Party in 1921. From 1922
to 1924 he edited the newspaper Il Comunista
and became a member of the party's central
committee. He was in Moscow when Mussolini
outlawed the party, and stayed there to
become a leading member of the Comintern,
joining the Secretariat in 1935. Returning to
Italy after Mussolini's downfall, he
advocated coalition politics with other
leftist and democratic parties, a policy
which came to fruition in the elections of
1948 where the communists won 135 seats.