Alberto Benzoni


Alberto Benzoni was an Italian politician.

Life and career

Political career

Benzoni joined the Italian Socialist Party in 1957, was elected city councilor of Rome in 1971, re-elected in 1976 and 1981, and in 1976 he joined the left-wing government led by the Independent Left as a Deputy Mayor elected on the PCI Giulio Carlo Argan list and in the subsequent Petroselli government. After the 1981 local elections he was replaced by Pierluigi Severi, who at the time was close to the Craxian wing of the PSI.
A member of the Lombard left Riccardo Lombardi (politician), in 1978 Benzoni was, together with Michele Achilli, Gianfranco Amendola, Tristano Codignola, Paolo Leon and Marcello Vittorini, among the signatories of an article in the 'Avanti! critical of the party secretary Bettino Craxi, because of his anti-communist politics and the «ideological changes» he promoted.
After the PSI crisis, in 1994 he joined the Labour Federation, of which he was a member until the majority of that formation decided to merge with the Democrats of the Left, which he opposed. Benzoni then promoted the Socialist and Labor Unity Movement, which participated in the founding of the Italian Democratic Socialists in May 1998.
In 2006, he supported the Rose in the Fist project.
On 1–2 June 2019, during the 1st National Congress of Risorgimento Socialista, he was unanimously elected President of the party.
After being elected President of Risorgimento Socialista in 2019, Benzoni continued to play an active role in the party’s activities, presiding over the Festa Nazionale di Risorgimento Socialista in Rome in December 2025.

Writer and journalist

Author of several publications on the history of socialism and the PSI, in 1991, before the end of the Craxian parabola sparked by the Clean Hands investigations, he published the essay "Craxism," on the figure and politics of Bettino Craxi. Together with his daughter Elisa, a graduate in contemporary history, in 1999 he published "Attentato e rappresaglia," an essay on the Via Rasella attack.
He wrote international politics columns for 'Avanti! and Mondoperaio.

Death

Benzoni died on 11 January 2026, at the age of 90.

Works

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