 Raised right after World War I in a period of deprivations, such as hunger and poverty, his upbringing had a huge impact on his politics.He followed courses to become a teacher, and soon started teaching, before graduating, in a school of his town.He learnt by his own the art of typography and read, in his free time, Mikhail Bakunin, Malatesta, Proudhon, and Élisée Reclus.