Alceste De Ambris (15 September 1874 – 9 December 1934) was an Italian

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

, the brother of fascist politician Amilcare De Ambris. He had a major part to play in the agrarian

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

s of 1908 in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

Life

De Ambris was born in Licciana Nardi,

province of Massa-Carrara The province of Massa-Carrara ( it, provincia di Massa-Carrara) is a province in the Tuscany region of central Italy. It is named after the provincial capital Massa, and Carrara, the other main town in the province. History The province of "Ma ...

, as the first of the eight children of Francesco De Ambris and Valeria Ricci. In 1913 he was elected member of

Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy The Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy ( it, Parlamento del Regno d'Italia) was the bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established in 1861 to replace the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia and lasted until 18 June 1946, when i ...

, with popular plebiscitary vote in the Electoral College of Parma - Reggio Emilia - Modena for the Partito Socialista Italiano. He engineered the split within the Milanese Syndical Union (USM) through his August 18, 1914, public speech, when he took the side of interventionism and advocated Italy's entry into

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. As a partisan of

national syndicalism National syndicalism is a far-right adaptation of syndicalism to suit the broader agenda of integral nationalism. National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. It is general ...

, he believed the war to represent an opportunity equal to the impact of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, and took his supporters (USM and Parma Labor Chamber) out of the ''

Unione Sindacale Italiana Unione Sindacale Italiana (''USI''; ''Italian Syndicalist Union'' or ''Italian Workers' Union'') is an anarcho-syndicalist trade union. It is the Italian section of the International Workers' Association (IWA; ''Associazione Internazionale dei L ...

'' to found the ''Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria Internazionalista''. The

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

of the new movement attracted

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

, who led his own movement, the ''Fasci Autonomi d'Azione Rivoluzionaria'', into a merger that gave birth to ''

Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria The ''Fascio d'Azione Rivoluzionaria'' (translatable into English as ''"Fasces of Revolutionary Action"''; figuratively ''"League of Revolutionary Action"'') was an Italian political movement founded in 1914 by Benito Mussolini, and active mainly ...

''. As cabinet head of the

Italian Regency of Carnaro The Italian Regency of Carnaro ( it, Reggenza Italiana del Carnaro), also known in Italian as (), was a self-proclaimed state in the city of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia) led by Gabriele d'Annunzio between 1919 and 1920. ''Impresa di Fiume'' ...

, he coauthored along with ''Comandante'' Gabriele d'Annunzio the ''Charter of Carnaro'', a constitution for

Fiume Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

. De Ambris provided the legal and political framework for the document while d'Annunzio used his skills as a poet to make the document more impressive. He would also coauthor with poet

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye d ...

the

Fascist Manifesto "The Manifesto of the Italian Fasces of Combat" ( it, "Il manifesto dei fasci italiani di combattimento", italics=no), commonly known as the Fascist Manifesto, was the initial declaration of the political stance of the '' Fasci Italiani di Comb ...

of 1919, and was since that same year the leader of nationalist syndicalist union '' Unione Italiana del Lavoro.'' Although linked to the beginnings of

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

through his attitude in 1914 and the support he gave to d'Annunzio, De Ambris became a vocal opponent of

Partito Nazionale Fascista The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

and later Mussolini's dictatorship. He was associated with the anti-fascist

Arditi del Popolo The ''Arditi del Popolo'' (''The People's Daring Ones'') was an Italian militant anti-fascist group founded at the end of June 1921 to resist the rise of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and the violence of the Blackshirts (''squadrist ...

. He and d'Annunzio were asked by Fascist supporters to run in the elections of May 15, 1921, but both refused. Before the

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, ...

, De Ambris depicted the Fascist movement as "a filthy pawn in Mister

Giolitti Giolitti is a well-known café and pastry shop, and reportedly the oldest ice cream parlor in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1890 by Giuseppe and Bernardina Giolitti and opened their first creamery in Salita del Grillo. Soon after, they became t ...

's game of chess, and made out of the least dignified section of the bourgeoisie". His citizenship was withdrawn in 1926, and he had to flee for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He continued attacking the regime through his writings (published as ''Lettere dall'esilio'' – "Letters from exile"). He died at Brive, France, in 1934.

References

''Il Dannunzianesimo dopo Fiume''
(in Italian)

(in Italian)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Ambris, Alceste 1874 births 1934 deaths People from Licciana Nardi Italian socialists Italian syndicalists National syndicalists Proto-fascists Italian anti-fascists Exiled Italian politicians