Tristano Codignola

He was a prominent exponent of liberal socialism and therefore among the founders of the Action Party (which brought together associations such as Justice and Freedom), formed in 1943 by politicians who like him had fought Nazifascism, and of which he was the representative during the Italian civil war, actively participating in the Florentine Resistance.

Following the killing of Giovanni Gentile, while not sparing severe criticism of the figure of the philosopher and his adhesion to the Italian Social Republic, he took a tough position against the authors of the attack on the illegal paper La Libertà of 30 April 1944.

Immediately after the end of the Second World War, Codignola continued his experience in the Action Party, on whose lists he was elected deputy to the Constituent Assembly in 1946.

Giuseppe Saragat, at the PSDI congress of 1951, being closer to the Christian Democrats, managed to impose his own line and in December 1952 Codignola was expelled from the party for his opposition to the so-called "Scam law" (legge truffa); for this reason, in February the following year, he gave birth to Socialist Autonomy, that joined the Popular Unity movement, of which he became secretary.

In 1957 he joined other socialist politicians in the PSI, of which he became responsible for public education of the party, a position he held until the 1976 congress.