Carmelo Zito (August 13, 1899 – June 9, 1980), born in

Oppido Mamertina Oppido Mamertina ( el, label= Calabrian Greek, script=Latn, Oppidù, ) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Reggio Calabria in Calabria in southern Italy at about northeast of Reggio Calabria and about southwest of Catanzaro. It is the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

''circa'' 1923, was an outspoken Italian American immigrant who operated the '' Il Corriere del Popolo'' Italian-language newspaper in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, from 1935 through 1966. He was active in the Italian anti-fascist movement in the United States. Family members relate that he fled

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 ...

's regime after learning that he was targeted for execution by the Fascists. However, local historians refer that Zito fled to the States after he shot with his hunting rifle, while drunk, a statue of the Virgin Mary: an event that infuriated the people of his village, who vehemently demonstrated against the act of blasphemy. A veteran of

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 ...

, Zito moved to New York in 1923. He joined an anti-fascist paper there in 1925, then moved to San Francisco in 1931 and took over ''Il Corriere del Popolo''. During World War II, he testified before congressional and state committees concerning fascist influences that he perceived in Italian-American political and civic organizations. He died on June 9, 1980.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zito, Carmelo American anti-fascists People from Reggio Calabria People from San Francisco 1899 births 1980 deaths American people of Italian descent Italian anti-fascists