Galimberti House Museum - History
Duccio Galimberti, hero of the Resistance
Tancredi Achille Giuseppe Olimpio Galimberti, better known by his diminutive Duccio, was born in Cuneo on April 30, 1906.
He grew up in a peaceful family environment. From an early age, he displayed a gentle, generous, and kind temperament. During his childhood, his mother's presence was very important, both emotionally and culturally, while his father's was more subtle and never overwhelming.
Duccio's early school years were spent at home, under the guidance of a teacher, Adelina Gazzi, and his parents. The daily schedule included grammar, arithmetic, Latin, history, geography, and language studies, and on Sundays, piano and German.
After graduating from elementary school, and spending another year with Ms. Gazzi, Duccio was looked after by his mother, who proved to be a skilled teacher, but at the same time demanding and strict.
Already two years ahead of schedule in his studies, the young Galimberti completed the third and fourth year of secondary school in one year (school year 1917-18), so that in the summer of 1918 he was able to enroll at the Liceo Ginnasio S. Pellico in Cuneo.
The years spent at home under the guidance of his parents meant for Duccio not only a solid academic education, but also the evolution of their relationship from a primarily sentimental and emotional level to a truly cultural one. The interest his parents aroused through the subjects of study was felt with a level of involvement and vivacity certainly remarkable for a boy his age, with a desire to always learn new and profound things.
Another important element in Duccio's upbringing was the physical presence of the newspaper in the family. From a young age, he was accustomed to commuting between home and the editorial offices of the "Sentinella delle Alpi," located in the basement, to pick up and bring back drafts of numerous articles. Thus, a familiarity with the press was formed, with its essential role in shaping and orienting public opinion. This familiarity would leave its mark on Duccio's development and foster and nurture his inclination toward a public role and a publicly declared commitment.
At first, he wasn't particularly interested in politics, and instead devoted himself to discussions with his parents and reading historical and literary works. He read all of Mazzini's works in the family library, as well as Shakespeare's works. Duccio loved not only studying, but also sports: fencing, mountaineering, and tennis.
In 1922, at the tender age of sixteen, he enrolled at university and, deciding to follow in his father's footsteps, chose the Faculty of Law. He graduated in 1926 with a degree in Criminal Law, with a thesis on "Dangerousness as the Basis of Criminal Punishment.".
In his profession he will be esteemed by colleagues and judges for his competence and friendliness.
From 1932 onwards, he wrote several essays on the dangers of the Rocco Code and collaborated with the Italian Legal Encyclopedia. In 1943, he collected notes and essays, which were revised and published in the volumes Quesiti d'udito. From the autumn of 1942 until April 1943, he met with Antonino Repaci to draft the Draft European and Internal Confederal Constitution, which would be published in 1946, after his death.
In 1932 he refused the offer to join the Fascist Party, realizing the danger that was looming and feeling the need to firmly connect people who were in some way alien to, if not hostile to, fascism.
Repaci recounts in Galimberti's biography: "Meanwhile, unable to do better, Duccio, along with several friends and colleagues—Spartaco Beltrand, Vittorio Isaia, Marcello Bianco, Giovanni Campagno, Giuliano Pellegrini, and a few others—initiated, in the 1940s, a literary and political circle. The group of friends met once a week in Galimberti's studio, and each of them discussed a previously agreed-upon topic. […] Duccio, naturally, spoke about Mazzini." As time passed, the evening meetings continued, but with very different aims. Duccio planned to gather around himself men of different political leanings, who shared a moral rejection of fascism, representatives of pre-fascist democracy and anti-Giolitti leanings, and young people who had grown up during the fascist era. Among the latter was Dino Giacosa, who, although the youngest of the group, had just returned from exile and was one of the most prominent figures. It is no coincidence that Dino meets the popular lawyer Felice Bertolino and Don Cesare Stoppa.
In Turin, in 1939, Duccio came into contact with the group of anti-fascists who met in Ada Gobetti's house.
In the autumn of 1942 he joined the Action Party, bringing with him many of the members of the group that had consolidated and expanded in the meantime: the professors Adolfo Ruata, Luigi Pareyson and Leonardo Ferrero, the craftsman Dado Soria and the typographer Arturo Felici.
Through various paths and the most disparate contacts, Galimberti's action developed to the point of reaching and involving members of the judiciary, lawyers, professors, students, young officers; he even penetrated the GUF (Fascist University Group) of Cuneo.
On July 26, 1943, the day after the fall of fascism, he took the floor from the balcony of his home and transformed his speech into a declaration of war against the Germans: "The war continues until the last German is expelled, until the last vestiges of the fascist regime disappear, until the victory of the Italian people who rebel against Mussolini's tyranny; but it does not join an oligarchy that seeks, by throwing Mussolini overboard, to save itself at the expense of the Italians." Words that, even if not immediately understood by everyone, indicate the only possible path to take: the path of war against the Germans and the fascists.
On September 11, twelve men (Duccio, Dino Giacosa, Dante Livio Bianco, Leo Scamuzzi, Arturo Felici, Ildo Vivanti, Leonardo Ferrero, Dado Soria, Giancarlo Spirolazzi, Ugo Rapisarda, and the two brothers Enzo and Riccardo Cavaglion) ascended the mountains and settled in Madonna del Colletto, forming the "Italia Libera" gang, the first Giustizia e Libertà group in the Cuneo area. The gang moved first to Paralup and then (in November 1943) to Valle Grana. On January 13, 1944, Duccio was wounded in San Matteo di Valgrana during an attack by a Nazi convoy.
After his convalescence, he settled in Turin. He subsequently assumed the role of Deputy Commander of the Piedmont Regional Military Committee. In this capacity, he inspected one formation after another, maintaining liaison. He developed and transmitted reports, plans, and directives.
During this activity, Duccio reconnected the broken thread of friendship between the Italian and French people, with the initiative of the meeting that took place in Barcelonnette on 22 May 1944 between the Italian partisan commanders and the French maquis.
His work was decisive: his energetic, decisive, and balanced actions gave an undeniable impetus to the entire Piedmontese partisan movement, overcoming conflicts and difficulties.
On November 28, Duccio was captured in a bakery in Turin, a hub for messages and documents, and taken to the Carceri Nuove prison. On the evening of December 2, he was picked up by members of the Provincial Political Office and taken to Cuneo. There, he was interrogated, tortured, and disfigured. On the morning of December 3, Duccio was taken to the Cuneo-Centallo highway and shot dead near Tetto Croce.
A few days later, the Piedmontese Liberation Committee proclaimed Duccio Galimberti a National Hero. The following February, the government decided to award him the Gold Medal for Military Valor with the following citation: "Tireless in his conspiracies, he was among the first to take up arms to defend the freedom and soil of the Fatherland from betrayal and tyranny. With skill equal to his enthusiasm, he gathered around himself in the mountains of Cuneo a first nucleus of fighters, from which valiant partisan divisions were to arise. At the head of these divisions, he fell once wounded, but did not abandon his combat and command post until he had secured the fate of his units. Still unrecovered, he assumed command of Piedmontese partisan formations, devoting himself unrestrained by any risk. Arrested, he proudly reaffirmed his faith in the victory of the Italian people against the nefarious German and Fascist oppression. Since the atrocious tortures to which he was subjected failed to break him, his executioners cowardly struck him down. "A supreme example of military, political, and civil virtue." His assassins were tried and later released.
The documentary
Documentary, produced by RAI in 1965, on the figure of the Cuneo partisan and national hero of the Resistance, Duccio Galimberti.
The documentary, with a total duration of approximately 14 minutes, was produced by RAI in 1965.
Through testimonies and documents, it tells the story of the Cuneo partisan and national hero of the Resistance, Tancredi “Duccio” Galimberti, barbarically killed by the Nazi-Fascists.
For the sacrifices of its people and for its activities in the partisan struggle, Cuneo was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor on 1 August 1947.
The video was kindly provided to the Municipality of Cuneo by the Rai Archives in Rome.
edited by: P. Gonnelli, N. Adelfi