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Carlo Costamagna (21 September 1881, in Quiliano – 1 March 1965, in
Pietra Ligure Pietra Ligure ( lij, A Prïa) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about southwest of Savona. It is mainly a touristic city. Pietra Ligure borders the foll ...
) was an Italian lawyer and academic noted as a theorist of
corporatism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...
. He worked closely with Benito Mussolini and his fascist movement.


Path to fascism

After studying law, Costamagna joined the fascist movement in 1920 and in 1924 was appointed National Secretary of Technical Councils.
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 ...
'', 1990, p. 68
Politically Costamagna was highly
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 ...
and saw
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 ...
as a transitory phase that existed only for the imposition of corporatism. On this point he had a long-running intellectual debate with Sergio Panunzio who was a strong supporter of the fascist state as an end in itself rather than just a means to economic change. He edited his own journal, '' Lo Stato'', which he founded in 1930.


Academic career

As an academic he was appointed Professor of Corporate Law at the
University of Ferrara The University of Ferrara ( it, Università degli Studi di Ferrara) is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 5 ...
in 1927, going on to hold similar posts at the
University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...
and the University of Rome. His corporatist theories were strongly influenced by the
statism In political science, statism is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation and the means of production. While in use s ...
of
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
.


Government work

Alongside his role in the academic world Costamagna was also involved at various level of politics in Fascist Italy. Between 1926 and 1927 he was involved in drafting a series of laws with fellow legal expert
Alfredo Rocco Alfredo Rocco (9 September 1875 – 28 August 1935) was an Italian politician and jurist. He was Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Urbino (1899–1902) and in Macerata (1902–1905), then Professor of Civil Procedure in Parma, o ...
and economist
Giuseppe Bottai Giuseppe Bottai (3 September 1895 – 9 January 1959) was an Italian journalist, and member of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini. Early life Born in Rome, Giuseppe was son of Luigi, a wine dealer with republican sympathies, and Elen ...
designed to convert Italy to a fascist state. The concept of the "ethical state" that they developed became the official ideology thereafter.Piero Ignazi, ''Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe'', Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 17 He then moved on to take a leading role in the Ministry of Corporations. He became a member of the
Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical funct ...
in 1929 and served in its successor the
Chamber of Fasces and Corporations Chamber of Fasces and Corporations ( it, Camera dei Fasci e delle Corporazioni) was the lower house of the legislature of the Kingdom of Italy from 23 March 1939 to 5 August 1943, during the height of the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fas ...
. He was admitted to the Italian Senate in 1943, by which time he had become part of the circle around the writer
Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian philosopher, poet, painter, esotericist, and radical-right ideologue. Evola regarded his values as aristocratic, masculine, traditionalist, heroic, and defiant ...
.Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 69


Post-war

Costamagna did not face prison for his involvement in the fascist government after 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 ...
but he was barred from any university involvement as a consequence. He was involved in the formation of the Italian Social Movement and, with his combination of conservative ideals, corporatist economics and Evola-inspired mysticism became one of the leading exponents of the Italian version of the
Conservative Revolutionary movement The Conservative Revolution (german: Konservative Revolution), also known as the German neoconservative movement or new nationalism, was a German national-conservative movement prominent during the Weimar Republic, in the years 1918–1933 (betw ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costamagna, Carlo 1881 births 1965 deaths Academic staff of the University of Ferrara Italian fascists Italian jurists Conservative Revolutionary movement Italian Social Movement politicians 20th-century Italian politicians Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome People from Quiliano 20th-century jurists Italian magazine founders