Born in Trieste in 1924 and died in Sicily in 1997
The Sicilian Gandhi
For four decades he lived in rural western Sicily, using active nonviolence to win jobs and water rights away from the Mafia and into the control of local farmers' and craftsmen's collectives. One technique that he innovated was the "strike in reverse," which initiated unauthorized public works projects for the poor. In 1958, after one such strike brought 150 unemployed men to repair a neglected dirt road in Partinico, Dolci was arrested on invented charges and spent eight months in jail. In 1967, when he accused prominent members of the government, by name, of collusion with organized crime, he spent another two years in jail for libel. He responded by broadcasting his opinions over a private radio station, which was promptly closed. It was a source of wonder to local people why the Mafia never seriously retaliated against Dolci; the speculation was that he was so popular that mobsters feared mass retaliation. He was a profuse and widely-read writer: his works include poetry and moving interviews with otherwise invisible members of humble trades whose lives he brought into
evocative focus. He was also a famed teacher of young children. Born of a Sicilian father and a Slovenian mother, Dolci originally studied architecture in Switzerland before moving to Sicily at the age of twenty-eight and finding his life's work.