Biography

Recchioni, Vero, later anglicised to Vernon Richards: born in London 1915, died in Hadleigh, Suffolk 2001; civil engineer, anarchist and editor; helped his father with propaganda work against Mussolini; arrested in Paris in January 1935 and extradited from France; in 1936, he published in collaboration with Camillo Berneri a bilingual anarchist and antifascist paper Italia Libera/Free Italy; founded and edited Spain and the World, which became Revolt in 1939, and eventually was followed by War Commentary 1939-1945 and Freedom from 1945; imprisoned for nine months for inciting agitation among soldiers in 1945; editor of Freedom until 1964; continued to run Freedom Press; among his publications are `Lessons of the Spanish Revolution' 1953 and `Errico Malatesta - Life and Ideas' 1965.

Berneri, Marie Louise: his first wife, born in Arezzo, Italy 1918, died in London 1949; took part in the publication of Revision Paris; went to Spain in 1936 where her father Camillo Berneri edited Guerra di Classe; returned to Paris to study psychology at the Sorbonne; went again to Spain after the assassination of her father; in October 1937 she went to London to help her companion Vernon Richards with the publication of Spain and the World; member of the group that edited Revolt and then War Commentary and Freedom until her premature death; among her publications are `Journey through Utopia' 1950 and `Neither East nor West' 1952.

Recchioni, Emidio: his father, born in Russi near Ravenna, Italy 1864, died in Paris 1934; railroad employee; originally a republican and follower of Giuseppe Mazzini; converted to anarchism in the early 1890s; contributed to Sempre Avanti; founded and edited, with Cesare Agostinelli and others, L'art. 248 Ancona in 1894; arrested in June 1894 in connection with the shooting of Prime Minister Crispi and confined for three years; started with Malatesta and friends L' Agitazione Ancona in 1897; soon arrested again and sent back to the prison isles, but managed to escape; emigrated to England in 1900; stayed involved in all Italian anarchist publications published in Ancona before and during the First World War; contributor to La Protesta and L' Adunata dei refrattari and other papers, mainly under his pen name Nemo; organized and financed a number of attempts on Mussolini