Virginio Arzani was an Italian soldier and partisan. Son of Giuseppe and Giuseppina Grillo, member of the Catholic Action, he enlisted in the Italian Royal Army and attended the Military Academy of Modena, from which he emerged with the rank of second lieutenant in permanent active service. After the proclamation of the armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 he returned to his village Viguzzolo and joined the ranks of the Resistance, taking the battle name of "Kicchirichì". Putting himself at the head of some partisan formations, he distinguished himself during an assault on a German barracks in Sarezzano, in the province of Alessandria, and then in an attempt to free some partisan prisoners in Tortona, being wounded in both war operations. He strenuously defended the Ponte del Carmine between Pertuso and Borghetto, in Val Borbera, for three days from an attack in which he was injured in the knee. Transported on a stretcher, he continued to direct the operations until he was captured by German soldiers on 29 August 1944. After being summarily interrogated, together with his other companions, he was sent back to the rear, but once he reached Cerreto, frazione of Zerba, the partisans were suddenly put to death by the republicans. After his death the partisans gave his name to a partisan brigade of the Cichero Division. In 1953 the President of the Italian Republic Luigi Einaudi posthumously awarded him the Gold Medal for Military Valour, the highest Italian honour.
Virginio Arzani was an Italian soldier and partisan. Son of Giuseppe and Giuseppina Grillo, member of the Catholic Action, he enlisted in the Italian Royal Army and attended the Military Academy of Modena, from which he emerged with the rank of second lieutenant in permanent active service. After the proclamation of the armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 he returned to his village Viguzzolo and joined the ranks of the Resistance, taking the battle name of "Kicchirichì". Putting himself at the head of some partisan formations, he distinguished himself during an assault on a German barracks in Sarezzano, in the province of Alessandria, and then in an attempt to free some partisan prisoners in Tortona, being wounded in both war operations. He strenuously defended the Ponte del Carmine between Pertuso and Borghetto, in Val Borbera, for three days from an attack in which he was injured in the knee. Transported on a stretcher, he continued to direct the operations until he was captured by German soldiers on 29 August 1944. After being summarily interrogated, together with his other companions, he was sent back to the rear, but once he reached Cerreto, frazione of Zerba, the partisans were suddenly put to death by the republicans. After his death the partisans gave his name to a partisan brigade of the Cichero Division. In 1953 the President of the Italian Republic Luigi Einaudi posthumously awarded him the Gold Medal for Military Valour, the highest Italian honour.
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