Who is Don Carlo Levi from Christ Stopped at Eboli and what is their importance?

Don Carlo Levi is the author and main character of Christ Stopped at Eboli. He is a political prisoner who spends a year in the town of Gagliano, in the province of Lacania in Southern Italy from late summer 1935 to spring 1936. Carlo has been imprisoned for criticizing the Fascist regime in Italy at the time. It is not clear his political position, although he is often thought to be an anarchist.