Roberto Battaglia

Born Feb. 17, 1913, in Rome; died there Feb. 20, 1963. Italian historian and publicist.

Battaglia graduated from the University of Rome in 1936. During World War II (1939–45) he participated in the Resistance (1943–45) and was one of the organizers of partisan detachments of the Party of Action in Umbria. Later, he was commander of a partisan division in northern Italy. In 1946 he joined the Italian Communist Party. Battaglia is the author of works on modern and recent Italian history, including the work The History of the Italian Resistance Movement (1953; Russian translation, 1954).