Attilio Deffenu Bust

Attilio Deffenu argued about Sardinia's future through economics and the politics of labor. Born in Nuoro in 1890, he studied law at Pisa and became involved in revolutionary syndicalist circles. His journalism examined the island's poverty and its relationship with the Italian state.

Through the journal Sardegna and other writing, he challenged policies he believed favored powerful mainland interests. His approach did not stop at celebrating a regional identity: he wanted changes in the economic conditions that shaped everyday life. These arguments later made him a reference point for Sardinian political movements.

Deffenu supported Italy's entry into the First World War and eventually served as an officer. In 1918 he worked in propaganda with the Sassari Brigade, a formation strongly associated with Sardinian soldiers. He was killed near Fossalta di Piave on June 16 that year.

The connection between a radical critic of society and an advocate of wartime mobilization can seem surprising. It reflects a real division within the prewar left, where some activists expected war to bring a transformation that parliamentary politics had failed to achieve.