«"The Resistant" by Mattia Bertoldi: Lucia Buonvicini's story at the Loggio Schools

Description

Friday October 23, 2026, at 8:30 PM the Lodge Schools, in Valsolda, host Mattia Bertoldi, journalist and writer, for the presentation of his novel The resistant (Gabriele Capelli Editore). A story that concerns Valsolda closely: that of Lucia Buonvicini, partisan, killed in May 1945 while trying to return to her children.

Lucia Buonvicini, nickname Nichi

Born in Pizzigaglia Bellinzona in 1906, Lucia married in 1930 the painter Romolo Buonvicini, originally from Oria. From the late 1930s, the family was divided between the two banks of the border: the husband and eldest son remained in Ticino, while she moved to Oria with her other children, in what was supposed to be a temporary refuge.

The armistice of the’September 8, 1943 Everything changes. Lucia joins the Resistance under the nom de guerre Nichi: active along the border, she maintains connections between the departments by transporting documents and material from one side of the border to the other—a commitment that will earn her military honors. She is arrested six times and finally forced to move at least thirty kilometers away from Oria: she leaves her children in Porlezza and returns to Bellinzona.

In May 1945, With the borders still closed, she attempts to return clandestinely through the mountains to be reunited with her children. She doesn't make it: she is killed along the way. Her body will only be found nine months later, and no one has ever been found guilty of that crime. She was thirty-nine years old.

The novel

The resistant It's a novel based on a true story, built around that double life where a single misstep meant execution. In the background, the region is held hostage by the Black Brigade of fascist commander Emilio Castelli and the roundup that drives almost all the partisans across the border, leaving only a small band in the mountains. Under surveillance, Lucia finds herself forced to use her son Renzo, nine years old, to communicate with her classmates - and this is the crux of the book: how far can a mother go in the name of freedom.

«"Nichi was a nom de guerre, but deep down she was always just Lucia. His mother."»
Mattia Bertoldi, The resistant

The author

Mattia Bertoldi He was born in Lugano in 1986 and studied Italian and English literature and linguistics at the University of Zurich. A journalist and writer, he published his first historical novel, "The Story of a Young Man," for TEA/Tre60 in 2022., Lilly's Courage, also released in German as Lilly's Courage. The resistant It is his first book for Gabriele Capelli Editore.

Information

• When: Friday, October 23, 2026, 8:30 PM
• Where: Loggio Schools, Valsolda (CO)
• Entrance: free, refreshments will follow
• Organization: Antonio Fogazzaro Valsolda Municipal Library