Ernesto Rossi (25 August 1897 – 9 February 1967) was an Italian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, journalist and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

activist. His ideas contributed to the

Partito d'Azione The Action Party ( it, Partito d'Azione, PdA) was a liberal-socialist political party in Italy. The party was anti-fascist and republican. Its prominent leaders were Carlo Rosselli, Ferruccio Parri, Emilio Lussu and Ugo La Malfa. Other prominen ...

, and subsequently the Partito Radicale. He was co-author of the

Ventotene Manifesto The Ventotene Manifesto ( it, Manifesto di Ventotene), officially entitled ''For a Free and United Europe. A Draft Manifesto'' (''Per un'Europa libera e unita. Progetto d'un manifesto''), is a political statement written by Altiero Spinelli while ...

. Rossi was born in

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

. Not yet nineteen years old, he voluntarily enlisted and fought in

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 ...

. After the war, moved by opposition to the socialists' attitude of hostility towards war veterans and their sacrifices and by contempt of the incapable political class of bounding idealists, he approached the nationalists of the ''People of Italy'' (directed by

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 194 ...

), a newspaper with which he collaborated from 1919 to 1922. During that time, however, he met

Gaetano Salvemini Gaetano Salvemini (; 8 September 1873 – 6 September 1957) was an Italian Socialist and antifascist politician, historian and writer. Born in a family of modest means, he became an acclaimed historian both in Italy and abroad, particularly in ...

, with whom he formed a long-lasting bond of respect and friendship, and he moved definitively and radically further from the positions they were bringing to the fascist ideology. He died in Rome in 1967.

Bibliography

External links

Ernesto Rossi biography
(Italian) * The archival holding of Ernesto Rossi was deposited t
Historical Archives of EU
of Florence (Italy) and th
inventory
is online.
''The words of Ventotene''
documentary about Ernesto Rossi and his contribution to the Manifesto of Ventotene 1897 births 1967 deaths People from Caserta Action Party (Italy) politicians Radical Party (Italy) politicians Politicians of Campania Italian military personnel of World War I Members of Giustizia e Libertà 20th-century Italian politicians {{Italy-politician-stub