Mario Mieli

Mario Mieli (21 May 1952 – 12 March 1983) was an Italian activist, writer, playwright, and queer theorist. He is considered one of the founders of the Italian homosexual movement and one of the leading theoreticians in Italian homosexual activism. He is best known for his essay Elementi di critica omosessuale (Homosexuality and liberation: elements of a gay critique, reduced version, Gay Men's Press, London, 1980) published in its first edition by Einaudi, in Turin, in 1977, along with Towards a Gay Communism: Elements of a Homosexual Critique (published by Pluto Press, London, 2018) and was one of the founders of FUORI! (Fronte Unitario Omosessuale Rivoluzionario Italiano, United Italian Homosexual Revolutionary Front) and the Collettivo Autonomo di Milano (Autonomous Collective of Milan) in 1974. He died by suicide at the age of 30.