Born in Canzo, province of Como, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 1877, and participated in the Scapigliatura movement with the most important artists of the period in Milan.

Leti was familiar with other Italian anti-fascist politicians such as Francesco Saverio Nitti, Alberto Cianca, Pietro Nenni, Emanuele Modigliani and Emilio Lussu.

Turati advocated alliances with other Italian democratic forces, meant to defeat the government's reactionary policies, and to advance left-wing causes.

Under Prime Minister Luigi Pelloux, the country was governed by highly conservative politicians who were met with stiff resistance from the left, and in 1899 they were defeated thanks in large part to the PSI's policies.

Filippo Turati and Anna Kulischov, who knew Mussolini well, were major opponents of fascism, and lived under constant surveillance and threats.

In a series of prescient speeches, Turati argued that the new revolutionary program adopted by the PSI in 1919 would lead to disaster, and he advocated political alliances with other opponents of Fascism.

In 1926, Turati fled Italy in a dramatic escape to France – aided by Riccardo Bauer,[8] Carlo Rosselli, Ferruccio Parri, Sandro Pertini (the future President of the Italian Republic) and Adriano Olivetti, of the eponymous typewriter company.

In Paris, he was the soul of the non-Communist anti-fascist resistance, travelling across Europe and alerting democrats to the Fascist danger – which he saw as a phenomenon with far-reaching consequences.

After World War II, Turati's remains were transferred to Milan's Cimitero Monumentale, where he was buried next to Anna Kulischov.