Paolo Virno (born 1952) is an Italian philosopher, Semiotics and a figurhead for the Italian Marxism movement. Implicated in belonging to illegal social movements during the 1960s and 1970s, Virno was arrested and jailed in 1979, accused of belonging to the Red Brigades. He spent several years in prison before finally being acquitted, after which he organized the publication Luogo Comune (lit. Cliché in Italian language ) in order to vocalize the political ideas he developed during his imprisonment. Virno Currently teaches at the University of Rome.