Ezio Maria Gray (born 9 October 1885 in
Novara
Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It i ...
,
Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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– died 8 February 1969 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 ...
) was an Italian fascist politician and journalist. Gray was the architect of the Grand Design for a Mediterranean Confederation dominated by a Latin Alliance. His geopolitical ideas influenced the development of Mussolini's expansionist strategies.
Early years
Gray, a staunch
critic of socialism, was a founder member of the
Italian Nationalist Association
The Italian Nationalist Association (''Associazione Nazionalista Italiana'', ANI) was Italy's first nationalist political movement founded in 1910, under the influence of Italian nationalists such as Enrico Corradini and Giovanni Papini. Upon it ...
in 1910.
[.] A strong supporter of the
Libyan war and an interventionist in World War I, he dropped out of politics to serve in the
Italian Army
"The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law"
, colors =
, colors_labels =
, march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...
during the
First World War
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 ...
and afterwards in
Dalmatia.
He was decorated with the silver medal and the bronze medal for military valour for his exploits during the war.
Fascism
![Ezio Maria Gray and Vihtori Kosola 1935](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Ezio_Maria_Gray_and_Vihtori_Kosola_1935.jpg)
On his return to Italy he became a supporter 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 ...
and set up the Novara
fascio
Fascio (; plural ''fasci'') is an Italian word literally meaning "a bundle" or "a sheaf", and figuratively "league", and which was used in the late 19th century to refer to political groups of many different (and sometimes opposing) orientations ...
in 1920.
Gray was elected to
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
for the fascists in 1921 and was appointed to the National Directorate in 1924.
The following year he was appointed to the
Grand Council of Fascism
The Grand Council of Fascism (, also translated "Fascist Grand Council") was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It was created as a body of th ...
and in 1927 he took over the editorship of the fascist journal ''Il Pensiero di
Benito Mussolini''.
[.] Away from his party duties he was a leading figure in the
Società Dante Alighieri
The Dante Alighieri Society (Italian: ''Società Dante Alighieri'') is a society that promotes Italian culture and language around the world. Today this society is present in more than 60 countries.
It was formed in Italy in July 1889. The so ...
, President of the ''Ente Autonomo della Stampa'' and a businessman with a reputation for shady dealings.
Gray served in the army 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 ...
before returning to civilian life as a
radio broadcaster
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-b ...
. His broadcasts were especially noted for their
anti-Semitic content. His position grew towards the end of the Italian fascists period and on 23 July 1943 he was appointed vice-president of 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 ...
.
Gray continued to be an important figure in the
Italian Social Republic and was appointed head of the
Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche
Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR, "Italian Body for Radio Broadcasting") was the public service broadcaster in Fascist Italy and the only entity permitted to broadcast by the government.
History
The company was established in 1 ...
during the republic's brief existence. Following the collapse of this regime he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for his leading role in the fascist government.
Post-war
Soon after being sent to prison however Gray was amnestied and in 1947 he launched his own journal, ''La Rivolta Ideale'', which pressed a
neo-fascist
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 ...
line.
He then edited ''Il Nazionale'', the paper of the
Italian Social Movement and became a leading figure on the hard-line tendency, supporting
Giorgio Almirante in his struggles with the more moderate
Arturo Michelini
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 ...
.
In the MSI he became noted for his support for seeking an accommodation with political Catholicism, seeing this as a way to rehabilitate fascism, and to this end held a number of surreptitious meeting with ''
Azione Cattolica
The Azione Cattolica Italiana, or Azione Cattolica (Catholic Action) for short, is a widespread Roman Catholic lay association in Italy.
History
In Italy in 1905, Azione Cattolica was established as a non-political lay organization under the dir ...
'' leader Dr. Luigi Gedda.
Gray returned to parliament, serving the MSI as a deputy from 1953 to 1958 and in the
Senate from 1963 to 1968.
Main works
* ''Lo smeraldo di Nerone'', Forlì 1911;
* ''La bella guerra'', Firenze 1912;
* ''Il Belgio sotto la spada tedesca'', ibid. 1915;
* ''La guerra senza sangue'', ibid. 1915;
* ''Disciplina civile'', ibid. 1916;
* ''Venezia in armi'', Milano 1917;
*
* ''Con le fanterie sarde. Giornate sull'Altipiano e sul Piave'', Firenze 1918;
* ''Come Lenin conquistò la Russia'', ibid. 1920;
* ''Il fronte antibolscevico'', ibid. 1920;
* ''Il processo di Cadorna'', ibid. 1920;
* ''Il pensiero di Mussolini'', Milano 1927;
* ''Oriani maestro di vita e di potenza'', Bologna 1930;
* ''Crescendo di certezze'', Roma 1930;
* ''Credenti nella patria'', Milano 1934;
* ''Antonio Cecchi'', ibid. 1935;
* ''Silvio Pellico'', ibid. 1936;
* ''Francesco Caracciolo e la Rivoluzione napoletana'', ibid. 1936;
* ''L'Italia ha sempre ragione. Cronache del regime (aprile 1932 - giugno 1938)'', ibid. 1938;
* ''Ramazza. Cose dette e non dette (15 giugno 1939 - 22 sett. 1941)'', ibid. 1942.
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Ezio Maria
1885 births
1969 deaths
People from Novara
Italian fascists
Italian male journalists
Italian military personnel of World War I
Italian military personnel of World War II
Italian radio personalities
Italian Social Movement politicians
Italian Nationalist Association
20th-century Italian politicians
Antisemitism in Italy
20th-century Italian journalists
20th-century Italian male writers