Armando Cossutta
Armando Cossutta (
2 September 1926) is an
Italian communist politician.
Born in
Milan, Cosutta joined the
Italian Communist Party (PCI) in
1943, and took part in the
Italian resistance movement as a
partisan. After
World War II, he became one of the leading members of the party, representing the most pro-
Soviet Union tendency; his belief in that country as
"Leading state" of
communism led him to criticise
Enrico Berlinguer. Nowadays, although he does not regret the choice he made, Cossutta considers that he was mistaken in opposing Berlinguer.
Opposed to
Achille Occhetto's
1991 proposal to dissolve the PCI, he founded, together with
Sergio Garavini,
Nichi Vendola and some others, the
Communist Refoundation Party, of which he became the president. When
Fausto Bertinotti,
secretary of the party, voted against a motion of confidence to the 1996
government of
Romano Prodi, Cossutta opposed his stance, and left the party along with
Oliviero Diliberto and others to found the
Party of Italian Communists.
Nowadays, Cossutta is president of the Party of Italian Communists, and Member of
Parliament. He also served as
Member of the European Parliament during the
5th European term (1999-2004).
Vecchio e nuovo corso. Vangelista,
Milano.
Dissenso e unità . Teti, Milano, 1986.
Una storia comunista (with Gianni Montesano). Rizzoli, Milano, 2004.
