Sicilian Center of Documentation

The Sicilian Center of Documentation (Italian: Centro Siciliano di Documentazione "Giuseppe Impastato", Centro Impastato) organises research into the Mafia in Sicily and campaigns against it. The Center was the first study center on the Mafia in Italy.

The Center’s purpose is defined in terms of four main points:

Umberto Santino and Anna Puglisi founded the Sicilian Center of Documentation in 1977. Since then, the Center has developed an archive dedicated to research into the Mafia. As a result, the center has made research available to the public in form of information packs. The center continues active in education about the Mafia and other criminal organizations by visiting schools and universities throughout Italy and the world. The Center also organizes and initiates public demonstrations, and played a key role in the murder investigation of Giuseppe Impastato, murdered by the Mafia in May 1978. In Impastato’s honor, the Center was renamed “The Center of Giuseppe Impastato” in 1980. In 1998, the Center was renamed again to “The Center of Giuseppe Impastato – Non-profit Organization for Social Venues”.

This self-financed center carries out activities that include the research of political, sociological, economic and historical data, as well as hosting conferences, exhibitions, and seminars. The center also assists with the publication of informational pamphlets and books.

In 1979 the Center organized the first anti-Mafia demonstration in Italian history. Over 2,000 demonstrators participated in this historic event. The Center has also organized other demonstrations, which include peace movements, the protection of democratic participation and human rights.

Giuseppe Impastato (born 1948) was a political activist from Cinisi in Italy, murdered by the Mafia in 1978. Impastato campaigned against the Mafia by founding a journal titled “The Socialist Idea” and a self-financed radio show, Radio Aut. A particular target of Impastato was Mafia leader Gaetano Badalamenti, who lived near Impastato's family home. On May 8–9, 1978, Impastato was murdered. His body was discovered with a charge of TNT tied to a local railway line. At the time Impastato had been running for local elections under the Proletarian Democracy party. Despite his death just before the elections, Impastato was elected.

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