Soviet Dissidents and Italy: Reception and Memories

• In Event: Memory of Human Rights Work in the USSR: Contemporary Testimonies and Legacy in Practice

Abstract

This paper presents the research project La memoria del Dissenso in Italia, conducted by Maurizia Calusio in collaboration with Anna Krasnikova. It examines two aspects of the Italian perception of the Soviet dissident movement and the struggle for human rights in the USSR. First, it analyses reactions in the 1960s–1980s, focusing primarily on the reception of certain samizdat and tamizdat publications. Second, it compares these historical perceptions with the memories of Italians who actively supported dissidents during the Soviet era, investigating the content of these memories and the extent to which the contemporary context resonates within them.
The corpus of oral testimonies—interviews—began to be collected by the authors in 2024, and this research is ongoing.

Author

• Maurizia Calusio, Catholic U of the Sacred Heart (Italy)