Vittoria Nenni

Vittoria Gorizia Daubeuf[1] (née Nenni; 31 October 1915 – 15 or 16 July 1943) was an Italian anti-fascist activist, active in the French Resistance during the Second World War.

The daughter of Italian socialist politician Pietro Nenni, Vittoria and her family fled to France in 1928 to escape persecution and violence in Fascist Italy.

In 1942, during the Nazi occupation of France, Dabeuf was caught printing French Communist Party leaflets and executed by firing squad.

Nenni was also arrested and deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where she spent seven months before dying of disease, probably typhoid fever.

[2] The family eventually moved to Milan[1][2] and Vittoria began school in October 1922; she reportedly excelled in Italian and mathematics.

[1] Compared to her sisters, Vittoria was the least politically active and was not involved in the Italian Socialist Party, though she shared her family's strong democratic and progressive values.

[1] Dabeuf managed a publishing company, Société Française d'Impressions et d'Éditions, and the couple lived at 22 rue Rémy et Jean de Gourmont [fr].

[1][5][10] Nenni could have avoided deportation to Auschwitz if she had stressed her Italian nationality, though she refused despite being offered to be sent to Italy,[1][4][8][9] supposedly declaring that she "felt French" and wanted to follow the fate of her fellow prisoners.

[9] Nenni quickly began to suffer from health complications, including typhus, kidney issues, and numerous sores on her legs.

[5] The Nenni family did not know that Vittoria had been deported to Auschwitz, or that she had died, until informed by Prime Minister Alcide De Gasperi[8] in May 1945.