Tosca Bucarelli Martini
Born
Tosca Bucarelli

(1922-10-04)4 October 1922
Florence, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy
Died10 January 2000(2000-01-10) (aged 77)
Florence, Tuscany, Italian Republic
Political partyGruppi di Azione Patriottica
Italian Communist Party
SpouseRoberto Martini
Children2
AwardsSilver Medal of Military Valor[1]

Tosca Bucarelli Martini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtoska bukaˈrɛlli marˈtiːni, ˈtɔs-]; 4 October 1922 – 10 January 2000[2][3]) was an Italian Partisan and politician from Florence. During the Italian Civil War, she joined the Gruppi di Azione Patriottica (GAP), a Communist Partisan organization resisting Mussolini's Fascist Italian Social Republic. She later served as City Councillor for Florence from 1975 to 1980.[1][3]

Partisan activity

On 8 February 1944, Bucarelli and her GAP comrade Antonio Ignesti attempted to bomb the Bar Paskowski, frequented by Fascist Party members and Nazi soldiers. However, the fuse malfunctioned, and their cover was blown. Ingesti managed to escape, but Bucarelli was captured and subjected to torture by Mario Carità's forces. She was later taken to the Villa Triste, and later to the Santa Verdiana monastery where other anti-fascists were being held.[4][5]

Santa Veridana monastery, where Bucarelli was held prisoner.

On 9 July 1944, she was rescued alongside 16 others from Santa Verdiana by a GAP team led by Bruno Fanciullacci and Elio Chianesi. During her captivity and as a result of Carità's infamous torture methods,[6] she suffered liver damage which would impact her health for the rest of her life. In fact, both Fanciullacci and Chianesi would be captured and tortured by Carità at Villa Triste less than a week later, with Chianesi dying under torture and Fanciullacci dying during an escape attempt.[4][5][7][8]

Post-war

On 16 October 1944, Bucarelli married fellow Partisan Roberto Martini. She would have two children by him: Mario in 1953 and Margherita in 1955.[2] After the war, Roberto Martini became mayor of the small Tuscan town of Scandicci from April 1947 until June 1951.[9] She appeared in Liliana Cavani's 1965 film Women of the Resistance (Italian: La donna nella Resistenza).[4] Bucarelli herself served as City Councillor of the city of Florence from 1975 to 1980 as a member of the Italian Communist Party.[10] She donated her husband's papers to the city archive in 1995.[11]

Upon her death in 2000, the Council Hall of District 4 at Villa Vogel was named in her honor.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Omaggio con il gonfalone per Tosca Bucarelli Martini eroina della Resistenza". Città di Firenze. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 "INVENTARIO DELLE CARTE MARTINI" (PDF). City of Florence Archives. p. 113. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 "E' morta Tosca Bucarelli Martini". la Repubblica. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Tosca Bucarelli". Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia. Archived from the original on 26 February 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Bar Paskowski (Piazza della Repubblica già Vittorio Emanuele)". ToscanaNovecento. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "La "Banda Carità". Il Reparto servizi speciali. 1943–1945". ToscanaNovecento. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "Bruno Fanciullacci". Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023.
  8. ↑ "Elio Chianesi". Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "Da piccolo centro a città". Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia Scandicci. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Cordoglio del gruppo DS per la scomparsa di Tosca Bucarelli Martini". Città di Firenze. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "INVENTARIO DELLE CARTE MARTINI" (PDF). City of Florence Archives. p. 41. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "Intitolata a Tosca Bucarelli Martini la Sala consiliare del Consiglio di Quartiere 4". Città di Firenze. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023.
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