Letters from Prison

The letters written by Antonio Gramsci after his arrest (November 8, 1926) are for the most part addressed to his family: his wife and children, his sister-in-law, his mother, his sisters, and his brother Carlo. Only a few are addressed to friends. We provide some biographical notes on his correspondents.

Gramsci's mother, Giuseppina Marcias (1861-1932), was the daughter of a tax collector and was related to the Corrias family. Married to Francesco Gramsci, she had seven children: Gennaro, Grazietta, Emma, Antonio, Mario, Teresina, and Carlo. Gennaro (« Nannaro ») worked first in Cagliari as an accountant and cashier for the Labor Chamber, then in Turin, where he was an administrator for « l'Ordine nuovo » The New Order, a socialist newspaper. Wounded by fascists in December 1922, he emigrated to France and Belgium, entrusting his daughter Edmea (« Mea ») to the care of his mother and Grazietta. Emma was an employee at the Tirso dam. She died in December 1920 of pernicious malaria. Mario settled in Varese and had two children: Gianfranco and Cesarina. Teresina, an employee at the post office in Ghilarza, married Paolo Paulesu and had four children: Franco, Mimma, Diddi, and Marco. Carlo worked in Sardinia as an inspector for social dairies. In 1931, he moved to Milan, working for Snia Viscosa and providing support to his brother Antonio in prison.

Julija (« Giulia », « Julka ») Schucht, born in Geneva in 1896, belonged to a family of Scandinavian origin that had moved to Russia at the beginning of the 18th century, in the time of Peter the Great. Her father, Apollon Schucht (1860-1938), had been deported from St. Petersburg to Siberia during the years 1884-87. He had the opportunity to meet Lenin in Samara and in