Disclaimer: The following blog post is not a reflection of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s opinion on the below topics.
Danilo Dolci’s activism made a significant impact on the practice of peaceful protest in Italy. His inspirational nature is reflected in his nickname, the “Sicilian Gandhi,” aptly given for his commitment to nonviolent action.[2] Through hunger strikes and reverse strikes, community organization and education, as well as published literature, Dolci made significant progress towards improving life in Sicily.
Danilo Dolci was born on June 28th, 1924, in Sežana, Italy.[3] He was a pacifist who, in 1943, refused to fight in World War II. After declining to wear the uniform of the fascist Italian Social Republic, Dolci was imprisoned but managed to escape soon after his arrest.[4]
After the war, Dolci began his humanitarian efforts by working with Priest Don Zeno Saltini at the Nomadelfia orphanage.[5] In 1952, he moved to Trappeto, a Sicilian village which he later described as “the most wretched piece of country I had ever seen.”[6] Trappeto was plagued by high levels of unemployment, poverty, and crime.[7] These harsh living conditions motivated Dolci’s many protests for improved city life.
Danilo Dolci’s first hunger strike began in October 1952 and was fueled by his devastating encounter with a malnourished Sicilian mother who was unable to produce milk for her infant. Dolci bought formula milk after meeting with the mother, but the child died before his return.[8] As an act of protest, Dolci began to fast while lying on the infant’s bed. Moreover, he wrote a letter to Italian authorities condemning the lack of food in Sicily.[9] After eight days of his hunger strike, Dolci’s health began to deteriorate drastically. In response, Sicily’s regional government asserted that funds would be allocated to Trappeto to improve the living conditions. Not only did Dolci’s fast incite direct change, it also attracted “international attention to the conditions in Sicily.”[10]
Dolci worked for many years improving Trappeto’s community. He sought to combat illiteracy, promote adult education, and provide nurseries—goals that are notably similar to those of Mahatma Gandhi.[11] In 1953, Dolci made these goals a reality by establishing the Borgo di Dio (Village of God), a nursery for local children.[12]
Dolci also worked to inspire change through literature. In 1954, he published a book entitled Fare Presto (e bene) Perché si Muore, meaning “Hurry Up (and do good): People are Dying,” which documents the suffering of local people in Trappeto.[13] The following year, he released Banditi a Partinico (“The Outlaws of Partinico”). While the Sicilian Mafia was hierarchical and organized, bandits’ crimes were largely motivated by individual needs and the grievances of their village. Thus, Dolci’s work critiqued “authorities that focused investment on trying to repress the activities of bandits without trying to resolve the social issues that were the root cause of the problem.”[14]
That same year, Dolci committed to the idea of constructing a dam along the Jato River, as he believed that “a dam on the Jato river could produce a drastic transformation of the local economy.”[15] The water storage from the dam would help alleviate the water deficiency that provided the Mafia with leverage and power.[16] In order to get the money to build the dam, Dolci and thirty others fasted to receive attention from the government. Moreover, they sent letters to authorities demanding that the dam be constructed. After the letters went unanswered, Dolci commenced another fast targeting illegal fishing from motorboats. The fast supported local fishermen’s businesses and was “a great achievement in terms of nonviolent action, as Dolci had managed this time to gather together more than a thousand people.”[17]
In September 1962, Dolci organized an additional hunger strike to pressure the government to financially support the Jato River dam. This strike amassed incredible public support, and finally, the Italian government approved funding for the dam’s construction.[18] It was completed in 1968 and spurred economic growth as well as job opportunities. These financial benefits led many working-age people to settle in the area.[19]
Dolci also assembled a reverse strike, a nonviolent protest technique in which citizens take part in unpaid work as a form of resistance. In 1956, Sicilians physically came together to improve a deteriorated road.[20] They wanted to highlight the lack of job opportunities and show authorities that public works were not up to par.[21] However, they were arrested for the protest.
In the diplomatic sphere, Dolci was elected vice-chairman of War Resisters International, a pacifist organization based in Britain.[22] On November 29th, 1967, he organized and promoted Italy’s March for Peace in Vietnam, which protested against Italy’s complicity in the Vietnam War. Thousands of protesters marched in Rome to the American Embassy, where Dolci delivered a letter to President Johnson, asking him to stop the bombing in North Vietnam.[23] In September of that same year, Dolci led an anti-Mafia protest that ousted Mafia-affiliated politicians from the government. These protests led Dolci to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.[24]
Unfortunately, Danilo Dolci died in 1997 from heart failure.[25] Before his death, however, he achieved much in the name of nonviolence. In 1975, the activist opened the Mirto Experimental Educational Centre, a school that “quickly became a beacon for progressive education in Italy.”[26] Over the course of his lifetime, he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize and was nominated for two Nobel Peace Prizes.[27] Dolci is remembered globally as a symbol of nonviolent action, known for both his personal acts of protest and ability to organize mass mobilization. His legacy stands as a testament to the strength of nonviolent resistance.
[1]Teatro Rebis, “Danilo Dolci,” Comune di Jesi, translated by Julia Donaldson, October 19, 2024, https://www.comune.jesi.an.it/w/danilo-dolci.
[2]Abstract, in the Danilo Dolci Papers (DG 105), Swarthmore College Peace Collection, https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/repositories/8/resources/7411 (accessed May 31, 2025).
[3]Abele Longo, Danilo Dolci: Environmental Education and Empowerment (Cham: Springer, 2020), 5.
[4] Biographical/Historical Note, in Danilo Dolci Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University Libraries, https://archivesspace.bu.edu/repositories/9/resources/1056 (accessed May 31, 2025).
[5] Biographical/Historical Note, Danilo Dolci Collection, Gotlieb Archival Research Center.
[6]Ibid.
[7]Ibid.
[8]Longo, Danilo Dolci: Environmental Education and Empowerment, 43.
[9]Ibid.
[10]Ibid, 44.
[11]Ibid, 6.
[12]Ibid.
[13]Ibid, 7.
[14]Ibid.
[15]Michael Bess, Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud: Four Activist Intellectuals and Their Strategies for Peace, 1945-1989: Louise Weiss (France), Leo Szilard (USA), E.P. Thompson (England), Danilo Dolci (Italy) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), 190.
[16]Longo, Danilo Dolci: Environmental Education and Empowerment, 44.
[17]Ibid.
[18]Ibid, 45.
[19]Bess, Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud, 192.
[20]Longo, Danilo Dolci: Environmental Education and Empowerment, 7-8.
[21]Ibid, 48.
[22]Bess, Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud, 200.
[23]Ibid.
[24]Longo, Danilo Dolci: Environmental Education and Empowerment, 50.
[25] Abstract, Danilo Dolci Papers (DG 105), Swarthmore College Peace Collection.
[26]Longo, Danilo Dolci: Environmental Education and Empowerment, 30.
[27]Abstract, Danilo Dolci Papers (DG 105), Swarthmore College Peace Collection.