Antonio Gramsci - founder and leader of the Italian Communist Party (1923–1924), member of parliament from the PCI (1924–1926). Arrested in 1926 under Article 184 of the Testo unico delle leggi di pubblica sicurezza (Unified Code of Laws for Public Security) introduced by the fascists.[1] He wrote his main work, “Prison Notebooks,” between 1926 and 1937. In August 1931 he became seriously ill. He spent long periods in various prison clinics. Gramsci's term of imprisonment expired on April 21, 1937, and six days later (on the morning of April 27) he died.

Notes, collectively called “Prison Notebooks,” that he made in prison from 1926- from 1937 to 1937, contain a stunning collection of knowledge about the organization of society, science and art. The censorship to which the notes were subjected forced the author to abandon the standard terminology of Marxist class analysis. Paradoxically, this made the notes more understandable to a wider audience, including now...

K.L.M.