Antonio Negri

Antonio Negri (/ˈnɛɡri/; Italian: [ˈneːɡri]; 1 August 1933 – 16 December 2023) was an Italian political philosopher known as one of the most prominent theorists of autonomism, as well as for his co-authorship of Empire with Michael Hardt. Born in Padua, Italy, Negri became a professor of political philosophy at the University of Padua, where he taught state and constitutional theory. Negri founded the Potere Operaio (Worker Power) group in 1969 and was a leading member of Autonomia Operaia, and published highly influential books, including Empire and Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire.

Negri was accused in the late 1970s of being the mastermind of the left-wing urban guerrilla organization Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse or BR), which was involved in the May 1978 kidnapping and murder of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro. On 7 April 1979, Negri was arrested and charged with a number of crimes, including the Moro murder. Most charges were quickly dropped, but in 1984, having fled to France, he was sentenced in absentia to 30 years in prison. He was given an additional four years on the charge of being morally responsible for the violence of political activists in the 1960s and 1970s. The question of Negri's involvement with left-wing extremism is a controversial subject. He was indicted on a number of charges, including "association and insurrection against the state" (a charge which was later dropped), and sentenced for involvement in two murders.