On 10 June 1904, Maria Zazzi was born in
Coli, in the northern
province of Piacenza. In the wake of the
March on Rome and the rise of
Italian fascism, in 1923, Zazzi left Italy and moved to
Paris, where she supported her recently bereaved brother and his newborn baby. In the French capital, she met and fell in love with the
Italian anarchist Armando Malaguti, who introduced her to anarchist ideas and brought her into the movement. At that time, the Parisian anarchist movement was largely composed of working-class men, with Zazzi distinguishing herself as one of the movement's few women. An energetic activist, she dedicated herself to aiding fellow refugees from Italy and distributing anarchist propaganda, working closely together with the family of
Camillo Berneri. As Malaguti was frequently arrested for his anarchist activism, in 1927, he was expelled from France and the couple moved to
Belgium. In
Brussels, they again fell in with the local anarchists, with whom Zazzi continued her activities in refugee aid and propaganda distribution. She frequently visited the city's anarchist prisoners, always introducing herself as their aunt, leading the prison guards to nickname her "" (). She also led the local campaign in defense of the Italian-American anarchists
Sacco and Vanzetti, culminating with the
spontaneous organisation of a
general strike on the day of their execution. During this time, Zazzi also met the
Belarusian anarchist Ida Mett and her husband
Nicolas Lazarévitch, as well as the
Spanish anarchists Buenaventura Durruti and
Francisco Ascaso. Zazzi and Malaguti then moved on to
Liège, but after Malaguti got into an argument with a Catholic priest of fascist sympathies, he was officially expelled from the city. He attempted to remain there clandestinely, but after police searched their house and interrogated Zazzi about his whereabouts, they resolved to return to Brussels. Upon arrival at
Brussels-Central railway station, Zazzi herself was arrested. But the police were unable to identify her, as they had gotten her surname incorrect and only had a poor-quality photograph of her. She convinced them that they were looking for someone else and was quickly released. Still under police investigation, in 1932, Zazzi and Malaguti left Belgium and returned to Paris. Back in the French capital, they reunited with the local anarchist movement and met the exiled
Ukrainian anarchist Nestor Makhno and the
Russian anarchist Volin. Immediately after the
Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936, Malaguti travelled to
Barcelona and joined the
Ascaso Column, going on to fight in the
Battle of Monte Pelado. Shortly afterwards, Zazzi herself went to Barcelona, where she observed the
Spanish Revolution, describing it in
otherworldly terms. She soon returned to Paris, where she organised material support for people fleeing there from war in Spain. After Malaguti was granted leave from the front, he attempted to join his wife in Paris, but was swiftly arrested by French border police. Zazzi remained in Paris throughout the
Battle of France, despite attempts by French authorities to evacuate the capital, and was arrested by the
Gestapo in December 1940. The Nazis interrogated her for information on her husband, but she refused to give them any information. Upon her release, she discovered that Malaguti had been arrested, but the Nazis had not yet discovered his identity and she rebuffed further attempts to elicit information from her. She eventually found the prison he was held in and managed to visit him, before he was deported to an Italian prison in
Ventotene. Zazzi followed him there in 1942, managing to cross the border despite problems with the authorities. As she was prevented from visiting him, they decided to get married, aided by local anarchists who provided them with the necessary documentation. Before they could reunite, Malaguti was transferred to a concentration camp in
Renicci di Anghiari, but he managed to escape on 8 September 1943. Friends in
Florence acquired documents that officially declared Malaguti to have been shot, allowing them to move safely to Bologna. In the Emilian capital, the couple provided support to the
anti-fascist partisans of the
Italian resistance movement. But Zazzi ended up feeling disappointed by the culture of the Italian resistance, finding herself missing the camaradery of the movements in France, Belgium and Spain. When Malaguti died a decade after the end of the war, Zazzi began a relationship with Alfonso Fantazzini, a former partisan that she had met during her exile in
Western Europe. They lived together in Bologna, where Zazzi spent the final years of her life. The couple frequently hosted meetings of the local anarchist movement, for whom they were the last representatives of the old anti-fascist generation, and provided room to people that had moved to the city from
Southern Italy. Even into old age, Zazzi was a regular presence at anarchist events and actions. She was also a mentor to her partner's son
Horst Fantazzini, who went on to become famous as a bank robber, and was active in the campaign for the acquittal of
Pietro Valpreda. During the 1980s, she participated in the conferences of the
Italian Anarchist Federation, but was forced to finally cease her activism after succumbing to
paresis. She entered hospice care following the death of Alfonso Fantazzini on 14 December 1985. On 5 January 1993, Zazzi died in the Bologna hospice. Despite her lifelong
atheism and against the wishes of her mourners, she was given a religious funeral. ==References==