In 1856,
Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany established a
penal colony in Pianosa because it was considered a perfect place to isolate, segregate, and oversee detainees. At the
proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, there were 149 prisoners on the island. In 1864 a structure able to contain 350 prisoners was built, but in 1872 the island was divided into numerous farms organizing the inmates as small communities. In 1880, there were 960 detainees. The captives cultivated cereals, produced oil and wine, such as
Sangiovese and
Procanico. There were poultry, pig, and cattle farms. From 1884 until 1965, because of its dry climate, Pianosa hosted convicts from the Italian mainland who had been affected by
tuberculosis. At the beginning of the 1900s, the population on the island was 21 civilians, 80
prison guards, 40 soldiers, and 800 prisoners.
Sandro Pertini, later President of the Republic of Italy, became an inmate in 1932 for political reasons. During World War II, on 17 September 1943, German troops invaded Pianosa and occupied it. On 19 March 1944, French commandos landed on the island and, after a short firefight, left with 40 prison guards as hostages. The following month, an Allied bomber attacked the island, killing six people. In the post-war period, the colony returned to its original role as a prison island. A
Carabinieri station was established, as was a detachment of
Guardia di Finanza, and houses were built to accommodate the families of the soldiers. In the 1970s, on order of General
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, the former
sanatorium, named Agrippa Branch, was transformed into a maximum security prison to confine
Mafia bosses and terrorists of the
Red Brigades: Giovanni Senzani,
Renato Curcio,
Alberto Franceschini, and Bruno Seghetti. Under the
article 41-bis prison regime, in May 1977 aircraft and helicopters transferred 600 convicts from all over Italy to Pianosa in only two days. A
reinforced concrete wall, six metres high and long, was built in 1979 to separate the village from the penitentiary. The murder of judges
Giovanni Falcone and
Paolo Borsellino in 1992 led to the reopening of the Agrippa Branch under the 41-bis regime and during the night of July 20, fifty-five Mafia bosses incarcerated at
Palermo Ucciardone prison, among them
Michele Greco, were transferred by military transport aircraft to
Pisa Airport and then to Pianosa by helicopter. The island was a prison fortress until 17 July 1997, when Gaetano Murana, the last 41-bis prison regime detainee, was transferred to another prison. Prior to that time Pianosa had hosted Mafia bosses such as
Pippo Calò,
Nitto Santapaola and
Giovanni Brusca, and had become well known for the brutality inflicted on the prisoners. The
Prodi government decided to close the penitentiary permanently on 28 June 1998. Pianosa was evacuated in a single day by the remaining detainees and residents, leaving a few guards on the island as caretakers. ==Marine protected area==