«I am a student, not a political man»: l'autocritica di Pesenti dal carcere («I am a student, not a political man»: Pesenti's self-criticism from prison)

This contribution draws its inspiration from an analysis of a unpublished manuscript by Antonio Pesenti, which bore the title Rapido esame critico della propria produzione scientifica fino al 1935. [A quick critical examination of my own scientific production up to 1935].The extraordinary circumstances under which it was written – the text was drafted by Pesenti during his imprisonment – prompt the interpreter to proceed with extreme caution. Actually, we do not know whether the document, in line with the practice that was widespread at the time in the ‘dormitory collectives’ within the Communist Party, was ever actually submitted to the latter or whether, instead, Pesenti composed it only in response to an inner need to mark the climax of a decidedly tormented political and intellectual path. Indeed, the text can be considered as the first tangible evidence of his support for Marxism. The aim of this investigation is to inquire a fundamental stage in the young scholar’s evolution, by exploring implications that can be traced in the document, seeking to identify elements of continuity between the themes that emerge during Pesenti’s early years and his reflections in the years of his maturity