Franceschini was born in Reggio Emilia into a communist family. His father had been arrested for anti-fascist activities in the 1930s, and his grandfather was one of the founders of the Italian Communist Party. At a young age he became a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation.
The Red Brigades were formed in the second half of 1970 as a result of the merger of Renato Curcio's Proletarian Left and a radical student and worker group. They went completely underground and organized the Red Brigades and spent the next three years, from 1972 to 1975, engaging in a series of bombings and kidnappings of prominent figures. Franceschini was captured and imprisoned for setting up an armed band, setting up a subversive association responsible for many killings and kidnapping in 1974. He was released in 1992.[2][3]
He appeared in a BBC documentary about Operation Gladio in June 1992.[4]
^See Giovanni Fasanella and Alberto Franceschini (with an afterword by judge Rosario Priore, who investigated Aldo Moro's death), Che cosa sono le BR ("Brigades Rouges. L'Histoire secrète des Red Brigades racontée par leur fondateur, Alberto Franceschini, together with Giovanni Fasanella." Editions Panama, 2005) review[permanent dead link] by Le Monde.
