Aristeo Banchi

Aristeo Banchi (22 February 1907 – 7 December 1995), known by the partisan name Ganna, was an Italian communist activist and partisan leader active in the Italian Resistance during World War II.

Life and career Banchi was born in Grosseto, Italy, on 22 February 1907. He worked as a baker alongside his father and became politically active at a young age, joining the clandestine organization of the Italian Communist Party in the province of Grosseto.

Due to his anti-fascist activities, Banchi was arrested by the Fascist authorities on 25 September 1930 and sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Viterbo. Using the nom de guerre "Ganna", he became a commander in the Garibaldi Brigade "Antonio Gramsci", a partisan formation active in the Maremma area. During the night of 14–15 June 1944, Banchi assumed command of the partisan forces in Grosseto, a city located along the route of the German "aggressive retreat" northward following the liberation of Rome on 5 June. He distributed weapons to the local fighters and took control of the main municipal buildings. The following morning, German SS units approaching from the south clashed with partisans. The battle resulted in six partisan deaths, twelve German fatalities, and thirty German prisoners. Grosseto's citizens raised a white flag to signal the city's liberation to the approaching Allies.

Banchi died in Grosseto on 7 December 1995.

Works Si va pel mondo. Il partito comunista a Grosseto dalle origini al 1944 (Grosseto: ARCI, 1993)

In fiction The "baker Banchi" is mentioned in Luciano Bianciardi's novel Il lavoro culturale (1957) among the communist heroes who inspired the protagonist, and who, by fighting against the fascists, liberated the city where the novel is set (nicknamed "Kansas City").