Carlo Castellani

Carlo Castellani (15 January 1909 – 11 August 1944) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker for Empoli, Livorno and Viareggio Calcio. He was deported to Gusen concentration camp in early 1944 in place of his anti-fascist father, and died there on 11 August 1944, aged 35.

Carlo Castellani
Personal information
Date of birth (1909-01-15)15 January 1909
Place of birth Fibbiana, Montelupo Fiorentino, Italy
Date of death 11 August 1944(1944-08-11) (aged 35)
Place of death Mauthausen-Gusen, Austria
Position(s) Striker[1]
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1926–1930 Empoli
1930–1933 Livorno
1933–1934 Viareggio Calcio
1934–1939 Empoli
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

Castellani was born on 15 January 1909 in Fibbiana, Montelupo Fiorentino.[2][1] He started his footballing career at Empoli, making his Terza Divisione debut on 7 November 1926, and helped the club to promotion to the Seconda Divisione that season.[3][4] He stayed at the club until 1930, when he joined Livorno in Serie A.[3] He scored 3 in 25 games in the 1930–31 season as Livorno were relegated to Serie B.[4] He transferred to Viareggio Calcio in 1933 before returning to Empoli in 1934. In total, he scored 61 goals in 145 matches for Empoli across his two spells at the club, making him their highest scoring player until 2011, when he was overtaken by Francesco Tavano.[2][5] He retired from football in 1940 and continued to live in his birth town of Fibbiana, where he owned a sawmill.[6][1] He continued to support Empoli financially after his retirement as a player.[6]

Castellani's father was a socialist and vocal critic of Benito Mussolini and fascism and as a result, following strikes at a nearby glass factory, the occupying German forces looked to arrest his father.[1] As his father was ill at the time, Castellani volunteered to go in his father's place in the belief that he would be sent to a nearby barracks where he could explain the situation.[1] Castellani was instead taken to the railway station in Florence from where he was deported to Mauthausen concentration camp.[1][4] He was transferred to Gusen concentration camp, where he died of dysentery on 11 August 1944.[1][5]

In 1965, Empoli named their newly-built stadium Stadio Carlo Castellani in memory of Castellani.[5][6]

References
  1. Lara, Miguel Ángel (14 February 2013). "El goleador que se entregó a los nazis para salvar a su padre". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  2. "Da Carlo Castellani ad Arpad Weisz, ecco le storie dei "Campioni nella memoria"". intoscana.it (in Italian). 20 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  3. Giuntini, Sergio (21 May 2020). O' Cammello: Vita, morti e miracolosi gol di Antonio Bacchetti partigiano-calciatore (in Italian). Mimesis Edizioni. ISBN 9788857568850. OCLC 1155323779.
  4. Corsetto, Giacomo (22 April 2021). "Carlo Castellani: Il bomber morto nel lager perché si offrì al posto del padre". il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  5. "Carlo Castellani, la storia della casa dell'Empoli". Metropolitanmagazine.it (in Italian). 7 April 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  6. Griffiths, Tom (27 April 2021). "The names that grace Italian football stadiums: From the Pope to Maradona". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
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