Mario Mieli
Encyclopedia
Mario Mieli was a leading figure in the Italian gay
movement of the 1970s. He combined a radical theoretical perspective with a provocative public persona. His sometimes outrageous public behavior made him a controversial figure, but he was nonetheless respected as one of the movement's most important intellectuals. He’s best known among English speakers for Towards a Gay Communism, a political pamphlet excerpted from his major theoretical work Homosexuality and Liberation: Elements of a Gay Critique.
on May 21, 1952 into a large and prosperous family. He lived for the first sixteen years of his life on his family's estate near Como
. Mario moved back to Milan with his family in 1968. Politically precocious, he threw himself into the student uprising of that year, beginning a long commitment to revolutionary causes.
In 1971 he moved to London as a student, where he took an active part in the London Gay Liberation Front. Though he spent intermittent time in London until 1975, in 1972 based himself in Milan where he studied at university. In April 1972, he, along with Massimo Consoli
(1945–2007), Nicolino Tosoni (b. 1943), Angelo Pezzana (b. 1940) and the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne
(1920–2005) held the first homosexual demonstration in Italy at a Congress of Sexology in San Remo
. They protested against psychiatric condemnation of homosexual conduct and the use of aversion therapy to "convert" homosexuals.
In 1972, Mieli helped found the collective Fronte Unitario Omosessuale Rivoluzionario Italiano (Italian revolutionary homosexual united front). Better known by its acronym F.U.O.R.I! (Come out!), it was Italy's first major gay-rights group. Started in Turin in 1971, F.U.O.R.I! appeared almost simultaneously in Rome, Padua, Venice and in Milan, where Mieli was an organizer. After the collective united with the Italian Radical Party, Mario criticized the move as "counter-revolutionary," since he thought the gay movement should remain independent of political parties.
He left the organization over political differences in 1974–75.
After 1974 Mieli continued his activism by organizing the Collettivi Omosessuali Milanesi (Homosexual collectives of Milan). In 1976 the group’s gay theatrical group, Nostra Signora dei Fiori, staged his play La Traviata Norma. Ovvero: Vaffanculo... ebbene sì! (the title’s numerous puns defy translation). This outrageous production was successfully staged in Milan, Florence, and Rome. An in-your-face spectacle, it deliberately presented behavior designed to flout conventional, heterosexual norms.
A controversial personality, Mieli sometimes made a spectacle of himself. Once in Rome he publicly ate his own excrement and that of a dog. While some may have found this behavior outrageous or frightening, others knew him as a gentle person who enjoyed cross-dressing
, capable of being very charming in private.
By 1976, Mieli had graduated and began revising for publication his doctoral thesis in Moral Philosophy. The revision was published as Elementi di critica omosessuale. An English translation of the book was made by David Fernbach as Homosexuality and Liberation: Elements of a Gay Critique. The translation’s last chapter – "Towards a Gay Communism" -- was excerpted as a political pamphlet and became Mieli’s most widely known work among English speakers.
This major theoretical work is widely considered the most important text from the Italian gay community. With rich humor and a cosmopolitan gay sensibility, Mieli contends that homosexual liberation is an integral and indispensable part of a much wider emancipation. Mieli cites "educastration" at the core of a repressive set of norms intended to stifle the full expression of a natural human transsexuality. He combines Freud's ideas on "polymorphous perversion" (see Polymorphous perverse) with Marxist economics to argue that human liberation is possible only through a revolution allowing uninhibited pansexuality
.
By 1981, Mieli became increasingly pessimistic about his cause. In 1983, he told friends about a forthcoming book titled Il risveglio dei Faraoni (The Awakening of the Pharaohs). It was to be an autobiographical novel, set in Egypt featuring a resurrected Jesus. But in early March, he decided to stop publication of the book, writing in a letter to a friend that the book might inspire someone to "have his hide". In another letter dated March 11, he wrote "My book will not be published by my free choice".
Mario Mieli killed himself the following day, on March 12, 1983. He died at age 30 from asphyxiation by inhaling gas in his Milan apartment.
It seems that Mieli's suicide stemmed from adverse reaction he expected from the book’s publication. Although a pirated edition was later published, his family brought legal action and had all copies destroyed. Only in 1994 was Il risveglio dei Faraoni published legally.
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
movement of the 1970s. He combined a radical theoretical perspective with a provocative public persona. His sometimes outrageous public behavior made him a controversial figure, but he was nonetheless respected as one of the movement's most important intellectuals. He’s best known among English speakers for Towards a Gay Communism, a political pamphlet excerpted from his major theoretical work Homosexuality and Liberation: Elements of a Gay Critique.
Life
Mieli was born in MilanMilan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
on May 21, 1952 into a large and prosperous family. He lived for the first sixteen years of his life on his family's estate near Como
Como
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
. Mario moved back to Milan with his family in 1968. Politically precocious, he threw himself into the student uprising of that year, beginning a long commitment to revolutionary causes.
In 1971 he moved to London as a student, where he took an active part in the London Gay Liberation Front. Though he spent intermittent time in London until 1975, in 1972 based himself in Milan where he studied at university. In April 1972, he, along with Massimo Consoli
Massimo Consoli
Massimo Consoli was known as "the father of the Italian gay movement". Besides being an activist, he was also an anarchist and an historian...
(1945–2007), Nicolino Tosoni (b. 1943), Angelo Pezzana (b. 1940) and the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne
Françoise d'Eaubonne
Françoise d'Eaubonne was a French feminist, who introduced the term ecofeminism in 1974....
(1920–2005) held the first homosexual demonstration in Italy at a Congress of Sexology in San Remo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
. They protested against psychiatric condemnation of homosexual conduct and the use of aversion therapy to "convert" homosexuals.
In 1972, Mieli helped found the collective Fronte Unitario Omosessuale Rivoluzionario Italiano (Italian revolutionary homosexual united front). Better known by its acronym F.U.O.R.I! (Come out!), it was Italy's first major gay-rights group. Started in Turin in 1971, F.U.O.R.I! appeared almost simultaneously in Rome, Padua, Venice and in Milan, where Mieli was an organizer. After the collective united with the Italian Radical Party, Mario criticized the move as "counter-revolutionary," since he thought the gay movement should remain independent of political parties.
He left the organization over political differences in 1974–75.
After 1974 Mieli continued his activism by organizing the Collettivi Omosessuali Milanesi (Homosexual collectives of Milan). In 1976 the group’s gay theatrical group, Nostra Signora dei Fiori, staged his play La Traviata Norma. Ovvero: Vaffanculo... ebbene sì! (the title’s numerous puns defy translation). This outrageous production was successfully staged in Milan, Florence, and Rome. An in-your-face spectacle, it deliberately presented behavior designed to flout conventional, heterosexual norms.
A controversial personality, Mieli sometimes made a spectacle of himself. Once in Rome he publicly ate his own excrement and that of a dog. While some may have found this behavior outrageous or frightening, others knew him as a gentle person who enjoyed cross-dressing
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
, capable of being very charming in private.
By 1976, Mieli had graduated and began revising for publication his doctoral thesis in Moral Philosophy. The revision was published as Elementi di critica omosessuale. An English translation of the book was made by David Fernbach as Homosexuality and Liberation: Elements of a Gay Critique. The translation’s last chapter – "Towards a Gay Communism" -- was excerpted as a political pamphlet and became Mieli’s most widely known work among English speakers.
This major theoretical work is widely considered the most important text from the Italian gay community. With rich humor and a cosmopolitan gay sensibility, Mieli contends that homosexual liberation is an integral and indispensable part of a much wider emancipation. Mieli cites "educastration" at the core of a repressive set of norms intended to stifle the full expression of a natural human transsexuality. He combines Freud's ideas on "polymorphous perversion" (see Polymorphous perverse) with Marxist economics to argue that human liberation is possible only through a revolution allowing uninhibited pansexuality
Pansexuality
Pansexuality refers to the potential for sexual attractions, sexual desire, romantic love, or emotional attraction, towards people of all gender identities and biological sexes...
.
By 1981, Mieli became increasingly pessimistic about his cause. In 1983, he told friends about a forthcoming book titled Il risveglio dei Faraoni (The Awakening of the Pharaohs). It was to be an autobiographical novel, set in Egypt featuring a resurrected Jesus. But in early March, he decided to stop publication of the book, writing in a letter to a friend that the book might inspire someone to "have his hide". In another letter dated March 11, he wrote "My book will not be published by my free choice".
Mario Mieli killed himself the following day, on March 12, 1983. He died at age 30 from asphyxiation by inhaling gas in his Milan apartment.
It seems that Mieli's suicide stemmed from adverse reaction he expected from the book’s publication. Although a pirated edition was later published, his family brought legal action and had all copies destroyed. Only in 1994 was Il risveglio dei Faraoni published legally.