Italian Nettist Party facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Italian Nettist Party Partito Nettista Italiano
Leader	Corrado Tedeschi
Founded	1953
Dissolved	1953
Headquarters	Florence
Ideology	Joke party
Political position	Centre
Colours	Green
Political parties

The Italian Nettist Party (Partito Nettista Italiano, PNI), better known as the Steak Party (Partito della Bistecca), was a joke political party founded in Italy in 1953 by publisher Corrado Tedeschi. Considered a forerunner of anti-politics or the first Italian satirical party, the Steak Party took part in the 1953 Italian general election, promising to give people a steak every day.

History

Corrado Tedeschi with a steak

In 1950s Florence, publisher Corrado Tedeschi, together with Ugo Cavallini, founded a political party named after their popular weekly puzzle magazine Nuova Enigmistica Tascabile [it] (NET). The party was nicknamed the Steak Party (partito della bistecca) with its symbol being a heifer because the political program, among other things, would deliver a daily supply of steak to every citizen. The party also had an official anthem made up of cows' moos.

The party had a more than evident mocking, goliardic, surrealist intent, and just as evidently parodied the populist Common Man's Front.

Despite being a joke political party, the Italian Nettist Party took part in the 7 June 1953 general elections for the Chamber of Deputies, contesting the constituencies of Rome, Florence, and Milan. Their mottos were "Long Live Fun!" (W la pacchia!), and "Better a steak today than an empire tomorrow".

The Steak Party collected 4,305 valid votes, equivalent to 0.02% at the national level (or 0.14% in just Florence).