Scarselli, Ines Leda (1906-1985)

Ines Leda Scarselli was the youngest daughter of the anarchist Scarselli family ( see the biographies of other members of the family here at libcom) . She was born on March 28th, 1906 in Certaldo.

She was arrested, with the rest of her family, for having participated at the age of 15 in the events in Certaldo on 28th February, 1921 and specifically in supplying the insurgents with bullets, aiding and abetting them. For this she was condemned to two years imprisonment on June 26th of the same year. The Court of Appeal found that there was a lack of evidence for the charges, and she was acquitted on 21st March the following year.

However, she was now homeless, as the Fascists had burnt down the family home, her brothers Oscar and Tito were fugitives, and her parents and sister were under arrest. She tok refuge with friends in nearby Castelfiorentino. In 1922 she moved to Rome to join her mother and was reunited with her sister Ines.
In Rome she found work as a brickmaker in a tile factory. She was subsequently arrested again at the factory on May 29th 1929 for having carried out subversive propaganda, along with the factory owner and five workers. The investigating judge granted her bail and had her released on 29th June. An anonymous worker at the factory wrote a letter to Mussolini in 1931 denouncing Ines , saying that she was a “subversive girl” “speaks evil of our Duce” and “sings subversive songs”.

These years were very difficult for Ines , with the death of her mother, and the mental collapse of her father, to whom she provided loving support and care during his confinement in a mental hospital. In addition she continued to offer support to her brothers Tito and Oscar exiled in Russia and her other brother Egisto and her sister Ida both in prison.

In 1929 the Fascist police seized 1000 lire sent by a French worker to Ines for Tito and Oscar. This was followed by another confiscation of a further 1000 lire sent through the post. From 1929 to 1931 Ines made various requests of the Ministry of the Interior to have these sums returned.

OAs a result of all this work of support, Ines’s health was effected and she was diagnosed with a severe case of anaemia. In August 1931.

However, now some happiness came into her life when she met and married a man from the Abruzzi. Six children came from this union.

In 1930 Ines learnt of the death of her brother Tito, who had become a train driver in Russia. He was killed when a train boiler exploded. She continued to correspond with her brother Oscar who was seeking to return to Italy and fought to have the sentence of her brother Egisto reduced.

After the Liberation, Ines reunited with Ines and her companion Giacomo Bottino, who were soon to emigrate to Brasil. Egisto joined the rest of the family in Rome and moves in with them. This presented some problems, as Egisto was a vague and idealistic dreamer and Ines, the opposite, a practical and pragmatic woman.

In May 1948 her husband was killed in a road accident which devastated Ines.

She died on October 20th, 1985, aged 79, from cancer of the colon.

Nick Heath

Sources:
https://militants-anarchistes.info/spip.php?article13921
http://s573166820.sito-web-online.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/06.2010-Pagliaro.pdf