Arturo Michelini (17 February 1909 – 15 June 1969) was an Italian politician and secretary of the Italian Social Movement (MSI). A minor party official during the days of Italian fascism and a war veteran, Michelini emerged as one of the two leading figures in the MSI during the 1950s and 1960s, representing the moderate tendency of the party against the nostalgic fascist tendency.

Early years

Michelini was born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. An accountant by profession, he was a lower to middle-ranking figure in the

National Fascist Party 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. Th ...

, rising to become secretary of the party in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

.P. Davies & D. Lynch, ''The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right'', 2002, p.225 Michelini, a pro-

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

veteran of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

, served with the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

on the Eastern Front during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He was twice wounded in action and decorated with the

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

for his efforts.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...

'', Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, p. 264 He did not hold office in the Italian Social Republic. Roger Eatwell, ''Fascism A History'', 2003, p. 250

MSI

Michelini emerged as a leading figure in the

neo-fascism Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration s ...

strain of Italian politics that emerged immediately after the war and was a prominent figure in the foundation of the MSI. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for Rome at the 1948 election as one of the new party's six representatives. He emerged as leader of the MSI in 1954 in succession to

Augusto De Marsanich Augusto De Marsanich (13 April 1893 – 10 February 1973) was an Italian fascist politician and the second leader of the Italian Social Movement (MSI). Early years De Marsanich was born in Rome. He enlisted in the Italian Army in 1916 and saw ac ...

and sought to moderate the party's neo-fascism in an attempt to bring it more into the political mainstream, an endeavour in which he largely failed. He was linked to financial powers in

as well as the

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

who sought to move the MSI away from its

third position The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented a ...

rhetoric into more

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

ideals. Michelini's policies helped to push some of the more radical elements out of the party and into such fringe groups as Avanguardia Nazionale and Ordine Nuovo. In general he disliked the unconstitutional methods of such minor groups and was the dominant figure in the "realist" tendency within the party, supporting co-operation with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and moves to build a pan-right alliance with the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

and

Monarchists Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

. In this regard he faced regular internal opposition, notably from Giorgio Almirante as well as other radicals such as Ezio Maria Gray, Massimo Anderson and Pino Romualdi who all wanted the basis of the MSI to be the charter issued by the 1943 Congress of Verona. As political editor of ''

Secolo d'Italia ''Secolo d'Italia'' (; "Century of Italy") is a daily, conservative, online newspaper in Italy, published since 1952. In 2012, it ceased its print edition and continued as an online-only publication. Political and ideological context After ...

'', Michelini was able to ensure that his position was that most widely disseminated. Despite these attempts at moderation the MSI lost support under Michelini's leadership, dropping from 5.8% in the 1953 general election to 4.9% in the 1958 election.Ferraresi, ''Threats to Democracy'', p. 28 Michelini however was a skilled negotiator and adept at the internal politics of the MSI and at the 8th party congress in June 1965 when the pro-fascist wing formed a majority for the first time under his leadership he was able to remain in position by virtue of concluding a private deal with their leader Almirante. In this respect he was able to retain the leadership of the MSI until his death in 1969, at which point Almirante took over.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michelini, Arturo 1909 births 1969 deaths Politicians from Florence Italian fascists Italian Social Movement politicians Deputies of Legislature I of Italy Deputies of Legislature II of Italy Deputies of Legislature III of Italy Deputies of Legislature IV of Italy Deputies of Legislature V of Italy Italian people of the Spanish Civil War Italian military personnel of World War II Italian anti-communists