Avanti! is an Italian daily newspaper, born as the official voice of the Italian Socialist Party, published since 25 December 1896. It took its name from its German counterpart Vorwärts, the party-newspaper of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.
Front page of the first number of Avanti! (25 December 1896)
Advertising of Avanti!, 27 December 1896
Advertising poster drawn by Gabriele Galantara for the subscription to Avanti!, 1898
Editorial staff of Avanti! in 1905. From the left, seated, the first is satirical artist Gabriele Galantara and the second is Ivanoe Bonomi. At the middle there is the director Leonida Bissolati.
The Italian Socialist Party was a social-democratic and democratic-socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892, the PSI was from the beginning a big tent of Italy's political left and socialism, ranging from the revolutionary socialism of Andrea Costa to the Marxist-inspired reformist socialism of Filippo Turati and the anarchism of Anna Kuliscioff. Under Turati's leadership, the party was a frequent ally of the Italian Republican Party and the Italian Radical Party at the parliamentary level, while lately entering in dialogue with the remnants of the Historical Left and the Liberal Union during Giovanni Giolitti's governments to ensure representation for the labour movement and the working class. In the 1900s and 1910s, the PSI achieved significant electoral success, becoming Italy's first party in 1919 and during the country's Biennio Rosso in 1921, when it was victim of violent paramilitary activities from the far right, and was not able to move the country in the revolutionary direction it wanted.
Filippo Turati was one of the founders of the party.
Nicola Bombacci was secretary of the PSI and leader of its revolutionary wing, who led the party to its best result ever in 1919.
Pietro Nenni was a historical leader of the PSI.
Bettino Craxi was party leader from 1976 to 1993 and the party's first Prime Minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987.