Alberto Franceschini, one of the founders of the Red Brigades along with Renato Curcio and Mara Cagol, died on April 11 at the age of 78. The news was only released today. Born in Reggio Emilia in 1947 into a communist family, Franceschini was among the key players in the birth of the Red Brigades in 1970, transforming the Student Workers Political Collective into an armed clandestine structure. Sentenced to more than 60 years in prison for armed gangs, kidnapping and murder, he was among those responsible for the kidnapping of Judge Mario Sossi and the murder of two MSI militants in Padua in 1974. Arrested in the same year by General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa's Carabinieri thanks to the infiltration of Silvano Girotto, Franceschini disassociated himself from the armed struggle in 1982 and was released from prison in 1992. In later years he moved to Rome, where he directed a cooperative linked to Arci for the reintegration of migrants and prisoners. His last public appearance was in February 2024, when he was identified at Alexei Navalny's memorial service in Milan. The funeral was held privately.