VIAREGGIO. Roberto Carinileader of Lotta Continua between the late 1960s and the 1970s, passed away on Friday, June 28, at the age of 77, “in the fresh air of the pines of San Camillo”, as one of his sons wrote on Facebook when announcing their father’s death. The news spread quickly in the city, where Roberto had been involved in politics for years, and then managed the “Ottobre” bookshop in via Garibaldi and the “Maruts” club. “Which gradually became a meeting place for many young people”, recalls Antonio Rossi, “and was the first recreational club, a real novelty for Viareggio in the early 1980s”.
Memories
Among the first to remember Roberto was Abramo Franceschini. It is difficult, in those years of great political struggles, to imagine Roberto Mencarini without Umberto Franceschini, and vice versa. «Roberto was the head of the Lotta Continua headquarters until its dissolution», Abramo recalls: «Roberto, known to everyone as “the Boss”, never stopped being part of Lotta Continua. Even during his illness, in fact, he fought strenuously. For me, a person of rare coherence is leaving us, a close friend of my father, a good man».
Stefano Poletti, director of the CGC, writes: «Hello, Roberto. Having met you was a privilege. A companion who was always present and attentive to the problems of others, a companion who was always on the side of the least without believing he had the truth in his pocket. Hello Chief. Say hello to the others.”
Marco Montemagni, former regional councilor now involved in the Peace Forum, recalls: «Comrade Roberto Mencarini was the protagonist of the student struggles of ’68 in Viareggio. He was a leader of Lotta Continua. Always politically involved on the left, he has made an important contribution to student, workers, social and anti-fascist struggles: with strong personal participation, with a constant sign of solidarity and altruism. A nice person, tenacious and coherent.”
A leader, there is no doubt, who for himself – Antonio Rossi still recalls – “had the most difficult task, that of concluding the assemblies”.
In years very different from those experienced in Lotta Continua, Roberto Mencarini – at the time of the Lunardini administration (2008-2012) in the role of employee of the Viareggio Congress Center, led the battle against the removal – from the structure – of the plaque commemorating the massacre of Sant’Anna di Stazzema.
The body of Mencarini, who leaves behind his wife Patrizia and his sons Marco and Emanuele, will be in the farewell rooms of the Croce Verde of Viareggio, in via Garibaldi, until Monday 1 July. From there, it will then move for cremation.
