L’incanto del serpente. Gramsci in contrappunto tra Giorgio Baratta e Alberto M. Cirese

The relationship between Giorgio Baratta and Alberto Mario Cirese has been short but intense. They actually met in the Spring of 2008, and Baratta died less than two years later. But from the beginning Baratta treated Cirese with both human warmth and a respect for his scientific work that won the confidence of the older scholar. Gramsci was the link between them. Cirese had studied and discussed Gramsci’s work for something like thirty years, starting from the early publications of the prison’s work. Baratta really discovered Cirese’s work on Gramsci much later, probably only when he was working on his book Antonio Gramsci in contrappunto (2007). He appreciated it deeply, and he felt he had to meet Cirese and try to hold a direct dialogue with him. He succeeded, and was able to promote a rich two days conference in Sardinia on October 2008, starring Cirese himself, and with the participation of many other scholars.