Born in Venice on October 23, 1895, in the Sestiere of S. Marco to an unknown father in a very religious family.
He followed ecclesiastical studies until almost 30 years, when he abandoned the priesthood. For this reason he was forced to change city and moved to Milan.
In 1923 he joined the Communist Party of Workers (PCdL), from which he was later expelled because following the first arrest and relative conviction he applied for clemency. Later he worked in the film field as an assistant director, editing technician and gearbox of imported feature films.
During Fascism he was arrested several times because of his ideas and his assiduous opposition. He also deals with the printing and distribution of leaflets against the regime and for this he is sentenced to three years in prison (which he will serve between Lipari, Ponza and Cuglieri, in Sardinia). Once freed, in 1934, he returned to Rome and was discriminated against as an anti-fascist character.
In 1939 he presented at the Venice Biennale an interesting documentary entitled "Twenty years of silent film in Italy".
In 1940 he collaborated in the realization of another film ("The Diary of a Star"), but in the same period he was interned for two years in the concentration camp of Istonio, in the province of Chieti, because he was considered dangerous for public order.
During the Resistance he collaborated with the Centro Clandestino Raccolta Notizie (CCRN) made up of the editors of the newspaper "Avanti!", among whom there is also Bonaventura Ferrazzutto.
Ferrazzutto will in turn be arrested for his anti-fascist commitment (a stumbling block is dedicated to him at 4741 Calle dei Fabbri). Altogether the CCRN will have thirty-four fallen in the partisan struggle.
After the armistice of 8 September 1943 he returned to Venice and here he continued to be very active in the fight against Nazi-fascism: he collaborated with Cesare Lombroso (1910-1989) in the city nucleus of the Movement of Proletarian Unity and was a member of the Veneto Regional Military Committee of the CLN.
He also took care of the printing of the only clandestine edition of "Avanti!", and it was for this reason that he was arrested as a politician and taken to the Mauthausen extermination camp on September 13, 1944, to be subsequently transferred to S. Aegyd.
He died on May 15, 1945 due to serious physical condition, shortly after the liberation of the camp by American troops.
A stumbling block laid in Venice on January 25, 2021 in Calle dei Fabbri, San Marco 4672 was dedicated to him.
Sources: https://www.avantionline.it/emilio-scarpa-ventanni-di-antifascismo/ https://sempreinpenombra.com/2011/01/26/ricordo-di-emilio-scarpa-a-venezia/