Boris Franteschini

some excellent Melbourne Anarchist history from Takver:

On August 26, 1986 Boris Franteschini died due to complications caused by lung cancer.

Boris was one of the last active members of the Italian Anarchist Movement in Melbourne. His commitment and enthusiasm for anarchism was something he maintained until his death.

Boris was born in 1914 in the United States, into a family of anarchist militants. At the age of 7 he returned to Italy with his family. In 1927 due to the increasing repression in Italy associated with the rise of fascism, Boris and his family immigrated to Melbourne.

He worked for a time on his father's small crop farm in Narre Warren, then latter as a woodcutter; a concreter; and finally settling into the marble business.

In the 1930's and 1940's Boris was active in the Italian anarchist Movement in exile in Melbourne. This group worked amoung the Melbourne Italian community, put out a newspaper and were involved in anti-fascist activity. They also gave support to anarchists in need overseas, particularly in Italy and Spain.

With the death of the older more experienced comrades Boris eventually found himself as a centre-point for Italian anarchist activity in Melbourne after the Second World War.

Between 1950 and 1965 there were about 30 people involved in the Italian Anarchist Movement in Melbourne - most of them were anarchists who had migrated to Australia.

Unfortunately this group carried out its activities in relative isolation. They didn't speak much English, there was no indigenous Australian Anarchist movement, and amoung the second and third generations of Australian-Italians there was little interest in Anarchism.

http://www.takver.com/history/franteschini.htm