The assasination of Gino Menconi

Menconi was born in Avenza, in the municipality of Carrara, on 13 May 1899. From a very young age, he embraced anti-fascism by serving in republican groups, where he became an officer during World War I, and later completed his studies in Business and Economics at Ca' Foscari University in Venice. In France, where he was in exile, he was a promoter of the Communist Party and, after attending the 'Leninist School' in Moscow, became a party official. In Italy, he was arrested and sentenced to seventeen years in prison, which was later converted into confinement in Ventotene in the late 1930s.

From 8 September 1943, he lived in hiding within the CLN (Italian National Liberation Committee) between Florence and Parma. During his tenure as commander of the Piazza, he was discovered by the Germans probably due to a denunciation during a meeting in Bosco di Corniglio with other partisan representatives. Many of his comrades were killed, while 'Renzi', his battle name, "...Betrayed, he was viciously attacked by an SS unit and riddled with bullets before he could even defend himself... Knocked down, tightly bound, he was doused with petrol and burnt alive. Fiery torch of faith, he enlightens an entire people's life. Bosco Corniglio, 17 October 1944," as stated in the motivation for the gold medal for military valour. The Avenza G. Menconi Comprehensive Institute in Carrara, a street and a square were named in his memory, while a memorial plaque can be found in the Turigliano cemetery.