Biography
Carl Aldo Marzani was an Italian-American immigrant radical, OSS veteran, and former State Department employee who became one of the first people imprisoned in the Cold War for concealed Communist Party membership. Indicted in January 1947 on eleven counts of fraud — for drawing his government salary while hiding prewar Communist Party activity — he was convicted in federal court in Washington on June 22, 1947 and sentenced to three years, despite clemency pleas from figures including William Donovan, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Mann. An appeals court threw out nine of the counts and the Supreme Court split 4–4 on the remaining two, leaving the conviction standing; Marzani entered prison in March 1949 and served 32 months. His case was an early cause of the National Guardian, and he went on to a long career as a left-wing writer and publisher.
Italian immigrant 1924; OSS officer (WWII); briefly State Department; CPUSA NYC organizer; documentary filmmaker; Antonio Gramsci's first English translator/publisher. The first Truman-era political prosecution: indicted January 1947; convicted June 22, 1947 in DC federal court — 11 counts of fraud/false statements (concealing CP membership while on government payroll under EO 9835 Loyalty Order). 36 months; served 32 months. Wrote We Can Be Friends: Origins of the Cold War (1952) in prison.
