Mondo Beat Numero Unico (Issue 1) - November 15, 1966

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Giuseppe Pinelli - Anarchist "Sacco e Vanzetti" Vittorio Di Russo - Founder of Mondo Beat

Vittorio Di Russo brought the incendiary torch from Amsterdam to Milan and Giuseppe Pinelli has fuelled it.

Giuseppe Pinelli, a railroad worker, was the trustee of the anarchist section Sacco e Vanzetti when Vittorio Di Russo was deported from Amsterdam to Milan. Giuseppe Pinelli first supported Vittorio Di Russo, then the Mondo Beat Movement. Thanks to him, we were able to mimeograph the first issue of the magazine Mondo Beat, as he provided the paper for printing and gave his help to do the work.
Although not intrusive, Pinelli was constantly close to the Movement and acted for the good of Mondo Beat when needed.

When in mid-December 1966 Mondo Beat merged with Onda Verde, Giuseppe Pinelli convinced those young provos, who attended the anarchist section Sacco e Vanzetti, to merge also, and they did it, and from that moment on there was only one movement in Milan, which became the beacon of the nonviolent youth revolt in Italy. Then, to strengthen the merger, Pinelli proposed to stage a public event, which he himself planned and led in the center of Milan, the "Rally of Flowers" ("Manifestazione dei Fiori" - December 17, 1966). It was the most spectacular rally of all that era, the young people taking part in it having offered flowers to the cops.

When the Milan City Police blocked the distribution of the third issue of the magazine Mondo Beat and we decided to paralyze, in protest, the city center, organizing the event called "Contestation of the Establishment" (Manifestazione di Contestazione del Sistema - March 7, 1967) Giuseppe Pinelli sent Vito with his van, an anarchist chimney sweeper, who secretly brought our placards from the Cave to the place where the event was to begin.

In addition to many other episodes, we asked Giuseppe Pinelli for help immediately after the destruction of Mondo Beat (destruction of the Tent City of Mondo Beat by the military and requisition of the premises of Mondo Beat by the secret services - 12 June 1967). Since the Contestation had almost reached the level of mass propagation, we considered that another spectacular military action against Mondo Beat would have accelerated its propagation process. Therefore, Melchiorre Gerbino planned a bluff, ie an imaginary rally in Milan of all beats and provos of Italy, hoping that the government ordered the military to protect Milan from such a barbaric invasion. If the holy men of the Vatican had fallen into the trap, to protect Milan, the Italian government had to mobilize hundreds of military and occupying in fact the city.

(anastatic copy)

The final aim was to cause irritation on people,because of the military intervention,and trigger mass contestation

Rally in Milan of all beats and provos. This was a bluff aimed to cause a massive military intervention

As you can see, in this leaflet Melchiorre Gerbino had put together all major issues that annoyed the establishment, as conscientious objection to compulsory military service and, what particularly annoyed the Vatican, sexual freedom. The holy men of the Vatican can't hear about sexual freedom, because, if people make free sex, are distracted from the sadomasochistic game of the Holy Cross, which is the basic business of the Holy See.
Then, Melchiorre Gerbino asked Giuseppe Pinelli to publish, from the anarchist section Sacco e Vanzetti, imaginative press releases on groups of contestators who were arriving in Milan from all over Italy and from many parts of Europe. For the success of such a bluff, it was of the utmost importance that the press releases originated from Sacco e Vanzetti, to be credible, since it was a very serious organization, attended by old characters who had participated in the Spanish Civil War. Giuseppe Pinelli did what we asked for, and he did it for a week, and extracts from his press releases were published by major newspapers. This has alarmed the Vatican to the point that the Italian government was ordered to protect Milan with massive military intervention, which lasted almost a week. Checkpoints were set up at the intersections of all the roads that connected Milan to the surrounding area. Within the city, checkpoints were set up at each train station. Two battalions of paratroopers were placed, one on the field where the Tent City of Mondo Beat had been, one in the city center, in Piazza Duomo. The army was alarmed in the barracks. Police cars traveled the city with sirens blaring. A group of dancers from the Lola Falana troupe, mistaken for Mondo Beat's longhairs, were beaten and dragged to prison. In Milan, that was the most massive military operation since the end of the Second World War, and the most ridiculous. This triggered mass contestation among the students, then among the common people, first in Italy, then in France. Obviously the times for mass contestation were ripe, but that military operation was the last straw that broke the vase.
Here are some extracts from the major newspapers in Milan, to show the effect that Pinelli's press releases have had.

The bluff worked since Mondo Beat had been an uncompromising movement and Sacco e Vanzetti was a very serious organization

Excerpts from the major newspapers in Milan which feared a barbaric invasion of the city

Mondo Beat had been an uncompromising movement and Sacco e Vanzetti was a very serious organization, and that's why the bluff worked.

In the night between 15 and 16 December 1969, Giuseppe Pinelli was killed with a karate chop to the neck, in a room on the fourth floor of the Police Headquarters in Milan. Later, his body was thrown from a window, to simulate suicide.
The murder of Giuseppe Pinelli occurred three days after the explotion of a bomb inside the Banca dell'Agricoltura, Piazza Fontana, Milan, which killed 17 people and injured 88. This was the first act of the so called strategy of terror, concocted by the Vatican and the NATO to bring an end to the Contestation in Italy.
What we know with certainty about the death of Giuseppe Pinelli is that at the Police Headquarters they wanted a false testimony of him, to indict an innocent anarchist of the terrorist attack against the Banca dell'Agricoltura.
Giuseppe Pinelli did not lend himself to false testimony, instead he said aloud the name of the real culprit, who was already known in Milan (Antonio Sottosanti, nicknamed Nino il Fascista). At that, the police commissioner Luigi Calabresi, to silence Pinelli, killed him with a karate chop to the neck.
In the room where the murder occurred, they were Pinelli and five others, including four police commissioners, Luigi Calabresi, Antonino Allegra, Antonio Pagnozzi, Marcello Guida, while the fifth was a lieutenant of carabinieri, Sabino Lo Grano, who has made a report on the assassination of Pinelli and has delivered it to a general, his superior. That general, in turn, made a public statement on the murder of Pinelli, and this because of the bad blood that always flows between the carabinieri and the police. This statement can not be erased from historical memory because it was published in the newspapers.
What the Italian system, famous in the world for its ridiculous, has done to turn the murder of Pinelli into suicide, is not worthy of comment.
Giuseppe Pinelli, whose history is known to all Italians, is the character-symbol of the Contestation, for the way he lived it and for how he died.

"Mondo Beat Numero Unico" (Issue 1) - November 15, 1966 - edition 860 copies

Note:
The matrices for the mimeograph were typewritten by Melchiorre Gerbino. That was the first time I have typewritten on such matrices and I exagereted with the beating, causing lacerations in the matrices. Of the 1,000 copies we printed, only 860 were legible and were put into circulation.

Mondo Beat Numero Unico,mimeographed with the assistance of Giuseppe Pinelli in the anarchist section Sacco e Vanzetti,
Milan,between the 12 and the 13 November 1966

An editorial written by Fernanda Pivano,a CIA agent,was trashed by Melchiorre Gerbino

Renzo Freschi,a
Milanese,17 years old,who attended high school

Renzo Freschi has
been one of the most assiduous collaborator of the magazine Mondo Beat

by Ivo della Savia, an anarchist Sacco e Vanzetti

Ivo della Savia lived in hiding, supported by the anarchists Sacco e Vanzetti

Ivo della Savia has been the first Italian conscientious objector to compulsory military service

An open letter to J.P. Sartre by an atheist Vietnamese,who had been obliged by the circumstances to live among
Buddhists during the Vietnam War

At the time of Mondo Beat, we lived the days of the bloody Vietnam War

Cina was a close friend of Vittorio Di Russo

Gennaro De Miranda,a Neapolitan,34,was the oldest editor of
the magazine Mondo Beat

'Mr Di Tosco and War' was the only article published by Vittorio Di Russo in the
magazine Mondo Beat

Contributors - Comments on the articles:

page 1-
The logo "Mondo Beat" was conceived by Enea, a Milanese boy of 17, who has traced it with a pin on a matrix of mimeograph.
Translation of what is written under the logo: Management, Administration, Advertising, Milan, Piazza del Duomo, at the equestrian statue of (King) Vittorio Emanuele II - Issue sponsored by the citizen of the world Vittorio Di Russo, mimeograph assistant and street vendor - Cooperation open to all, with the exception of mental masturbators.
This strip and the editorial were written by Melchiorre Paolo Gerbino (M.P.G.). In the editorial, which I conceived as the Manifesto of Mondo Beat, I was advocating nonviolence as a necessity for the survival of humanity, therefore, the need for a new morality and, in perspective, the development of a higher human nature.
Note: In the editorial I have introduced the neologism "strumentizzare", that later he would have turned into "strumentalizzare" (to instrumentalize). This neologism has spread not only in Italian but also in English, French, Spanish... due to the great impact that the models of the Contestation have had in Western culture.

page 2-
Continuation of the editorial, by M.P.G. (Melchiorre Paolo Gerbino);
"No poetics but poets" (NON POETICHE MA POETI) by Edoardo. On the necessity of a renewal of the Italian culture.

page 3-
"Beat Phenomenology" (FENOMENO BEAT) by Renzo (Renzo Freschi) (1). Renzo Freschi, a 17 years old Milanese, who attended high school.

page 4-
"Beat Phenomenology" (FENOMENO BEAT) by Renzo (Renzo Freschi) (2).

page 5-
"Beat Phenomenology" (FENOMENO BEAT) by Renzo (Renzo Freschi) (3);
"Why I don't want to undergo compulsory military service" (PERCHE' MI RIFIUTO DI DIVENTARE SOLDATO) (1) by Ivo della Savia, an anarchist Sacco e Vanzetti.

page 6-
"Why I don't want to undergo compulsory military service" (PERCHE' MI RIFIUTO DI DIVENTARE SOLDATO) (2) by Ivo della Savia, who lived in hiding, supported by the anarchists.

page 7-
"Why I don't want to undergo compulsory military service" (PERCHE' MI RIFIUTO DI DIVENTARE SOLDATO) (3) by Ivo della Savia. He was the first Italian conscientious objector to compulsory military service.
Miscellany.

page 8-
"Buddhists and war - Letter of a resuscitated man to J.P. Sartre" (I BUDDISTI E LA GUERRA - Lettera di un risuscitato a J.P. Sartre) (1) by Ho Huu Tuong - An open letter to Jean-Paul Sartre by an atheist Vietnamese, who had been obliged by the circumstances to live among Buddhists during the Vietnam War.

page 9-
"Buddhists and war - Letter of a resuscitated man to J.P. Sartre" (I BUDDISTI E LA GUERRA - Lettera di un risuscitato a J.P. Sartre) (2) by Ho Huu Tuong (translation from French to Italian by Melchiorre Gerbino).

page 10-
"Shadows in the sun" (OMBRE AL SOLE) by Renzo (Renzo Freschi).

page 11-
"Milano Beat" by Poppi (Poppi Ranchetti);
"Fireworks" (FUOCHI D'ARTIFICIO) by Renzo (Renzo Freschi);
Miscellany.

page 12-
"Practical souls" (ANIME PRATICHE) and "Let's remain in our world" (RESTIAMO NEL NOSTRO MONDO) by Cina. He was a close friend of Vittorio Di Russo.

page 13-
"The mentally retarded dean" (IL PRESIDE TARDO MENTALE) by Gennaro (Gennaro De Miranda)- It was an attack on the school system in Italy;
"Mr Todisco and Love" (IL SIGNOR TODISCO E L'AMORE) (1) by M.P.G. (Melchiorre Paolo Gerbino).

page 14-
"Mr Todisco and Love" (IL SIGNOR TODISCO E L'AMORE) (2) by M.P.G. (Melchiorre Paolo Gerbino);
"Mr Di Tosco and War" (IL SIGNOR DI TOSCO E LA GUERRA) by Vittorio Di Russo;
With these two writings, Melchiorre Gerbino and Vittorio Di Russo teased Alfredo Todisco, a journalist who wrote nonsense about the beats on Corriere della Sera.
"Quiz" by The Editorial Staff (La Redazione). A joke on publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, written by Melchiorre Gerbino.

History of Mondo Beat - Chapter 4