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 work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the ...

s of 1908 in

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

Life

De Ambris was born in

Licciana Nardi Licciana Nardi is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Massa and Carrara in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Massa. Geography The town lies in the Lunigiana region on the border b ...

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 " ...

, 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, with popular plebiscitary vote in the Electoral College of Parma - Reggio Emilia - Modena for the

Partito Socialista Italiano The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country. Founded in Genoa in 1892 ...

. 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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. 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 ge ...

, 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 conside ...

, 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 ...

, who led his own movement, the ''Fasci Autonomi d'Azione Rivoluzionaria'', into a merger that gave birth to '' Fasci d'Azione Rivoluzionaria''. As cabinet head of the Italian Regency of Carnaro, 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 Prim ...

. 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 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 and t ...

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. 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 192 ...

, 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 Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of oc, Briva la Galharda) is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglomeration was ...

, 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