Antonio Gramsci was born on 22 January 1891 to Francesco Gramsci and Giuseppina Marcias. He spent his early years with his family in Ghilarza before moving to Turin to attend university, where he also began working as a journalist.

He travelled abroad on behalf of the Communist Party of Italy and, while in Moscow, met Giulia Schucht, with whom he would have two children. On 8 November 1926, however, he was arrested and sentenced to internal exile on the island of Ustica.

In 1928, he was sentenced to 20 years, 4 months, and 5 days in prison. Due to the severe health conditions caused by Pott’s disease, he was transferred to the prison in Turi, where he was assisted by his sister-in-law Tatiana. During his imprisonment, he began both his extensive correspondence and the writing of the Prison Notebooks. As his illness worsened, he was granted conditional release and transferred under custody to clinics in Formia and later in Rome.

Shortly after regaining full freedom, he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and died on 27 April 1937. His ashes are buried in the Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome.