One hundred years ago, on May 25, 1922, Enrico Berlinguer was born in Sassari, the man destined to enter the history of the Communist Party, which under his leadership reached the maximum electoral consensus with 34.4% in 1976, and of the Italian Republic .
The man of the "historical compromise" with the DC, the man who was able to trace a line between Italian and Soviet communism.
Everything has been written and said about him, congratulations and criticisms.
Enzo Biagi said of him, "he is one of the few politicians who keeps his word".
Roberto Benigni, at a famous Fgci demonstration in Rome in 1983, picked him up on stage, making him, if ever needed, even more popular and human, and said, "This is a genuine communist."
A destiny written from the birth of Berlinguer, son of Mario, a fervent anti-fascist lawyer, school friend of Palmiro Togliatti and then a socialist senator.
A destiny that the young Enrico was able to shape with his own hands, with his own character and with an extraordinary political intelligence.
After the youth spent in Sassari, with the high school diploma obtained at the Liceo Azuni, the same one attended by the two presidents of the Republic, Antonio Segni and Francesco Cossiga, Berlinguer moved to Rome.
But not before he was imprisoned for 4 months, from January 1944 on charges of being the instigator of the bread riots.
At the age of 26 he joined the leadership of the PCI and after just one year he became general secretary of the Federation of young Italian Communists.
The rise in the party is as rapid as it is deserved: in 1958 he was deputy secretary, under Togliatti, in 1960 he was responsible for the organization of the party, in 1972 he became national secretary.
He will remain so until his death in 1984, caused by a stroke during a rally in Padua.
To commemorate him, the University of Sassari will celebrate him this morning with a ceremony in the presence of the Head of State, Sergio Matterella, and the ministers Cristina Messa and Fabiana Dadone.