Mikis Mantakas – L'Europa in lotta per la libertà non dimentica i suoi martiri
(Mikis Mantakas – Europe in the Struggle for Freedom Will Not Forget Its Martyrs)
A medicine student born in Athens, Mikis Mantakas lived in Rome where he was a member of Fronte della Gioventù (Youth Front), the youth division of post-World War II Italy's neo-fascist political party, the Movimento Sociale Italiano (Italian Social Movement, MSI).
The first trial for the "Rogo di Primavalle" (Primavalle Fire) began in Rome on February 28, 1975. A group of four hundred demonstrators from far-left groups including Potere Operaio (Workers Power, PO) and Lotta Continua (Ongoing Struggle) attempted to gain entry to the courtroom while Achille Lollo, one of the defendants and a member of PO, was giving his testimony. They were met by a group of neo-fascists who had lined the entrance of the court building. Violent clashes erupted involving slingshots, iron projectiles, and metal bars. Police dispersed rioters and, consequently, violence ricocheted across the surrounding neighborhood. This street violence increased when both sides of the political spectrum who had been in the courtroom (or in the piazza out in front of the courtroom) flooded into the city, where they came face-to-face with their adversaries. Some far right rioters sought refuge in a nearby MSI headquarters on Via Ottaviano. Mantakas was among them. When molotov cocktails were thrown inside of the headquarters, Mantakas fled into Piazza del Risorgimento where he was shot in the head. He died in the operating theater after two hours of surgery.
Mantakas' funeral oration was delivered by the MSI's Secretary, Giorgio Almirante, who began his oration by declaring that although Mantakas' mortal remains would be laid to rest in his home country of Greece, "we will guard [his] spirit." He then described Mantakas as "a martyr of an idea, of an order of fighters and believers that crossed the borders of our land to join together the best part of the young generations of the Western world in a pact of civilization, order, and freedom." His words positioned Italy as an ideological heartland, while presenting the struggle over "Western civilization," which ostensibly the MSI and its supporters were fighting to preserve, as one of global proportions (2016).
This poster builds on the Almirantian rhetoric that represented Mantakas as a "martyr" for neo-fascist notions of "progress." The image is based on a childhood photograph, clean-cut with dark eyes and quiffed hair – a stark contrast to the bearded, long-haired medical student who was killed in 1975 (Fig. 1). This representation of innocence plays on the idea of a martyr as one who demonstrates a pure commitment to far-right idealism. The text beneath the image of Mantakas frames the memory of far-right victims of left-wing violence as part-and-parcel of ideological progress across Europe. Amy King has contended that the far-right community which honors Mantakas annually extends "beyond national borders, resurrecting a transnational solidarity that was evident immediately after Mantakas's death," and reflecting Julius Evola's concept of "spiritual nationhood," which transcends national boundaries (King 2024: 203).
In addition to these anonymously-distributed commemorative posters, a handful of contemporary Italy's far-right organizations and political parties participate in upholding the memory of Mantakas as a neo-fascist martyr, including Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), and its various youth divisions (Figs. 2 and 3).
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