Gino Lucetti (31 August 1900 – 17 September 1943) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

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 ...

who attempted to assassinate the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

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 ...

in 1926. After

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 ...

he was involved in many clashes and political brawls during the

Biennio Rosso The Biennio Rosso (English: "Red Biennium" or "Two Red Years") was a two-year period, between 1919 and 1920, of intense social conflict in Italy, following the First World War.Brunella Dalla Casa, ''Composizione di classe, rivendicazioni e prof ...

. He continued to oppose local fascists and on 26 September 1925, after an argument, he wounded with a pistol the fascist militant and fellow citizen Alessandro Perfetti. His companion, Antonio Vatteroni, fired back, wounding Lucetti in his neck and ear as he fled. In spite of the wound, he escaped and embarked on a ship to

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. He came back to Italy under the name of Ermete Giovannini, with the intention of attacking Mussolini's life, following a plan that he claimed to have developed alone. On 11 September 1926, the day of the trial for the shooting of the previous year, in front of

Porta Pia Porta Pia is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo in replacement for the Port ...

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 ...

, Lucetti launched a bomb against the

Lancia Lambda The Lancia Lambda is an innovative automobile produced from 1922 through 1931. It was the first car to feature a load-bearing unitary body, (but without a stressed roof) and it also pioneered the use of an independent suspension (the front sliding ...

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 ...

on the usual route from Villa Torlonia, his house, to his office in

Palazzo Chigi The Chigi Palace ( it, Palazzo Chigi ) is a palace and former noble residence in Rome which is the seat of the Council of Ministers and the official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy. Since 22 October 2022, the tenant of the Chigi Palace h ...

. The bomb exploded on the ground, slightly injuring eight people but leaving the target unharmed. When arrested by the police he said "I didn't come with a bouquet of flowers for Mussolini. But I was also willing to use the revolver if I didn't achieve my aim with the bomb". He was sentenced to 30 years in prison but he was freed or he escaped in 1943 when

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

was liberated. A little later, on 17 September 1943, he died in the island of

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures approximately east to west ...

due to an air bombardment from the Germans.Marco Cesarini Sforza, ''Gli attentati a Mussolini. Per pochi centimetri fu sempre salvo'', in La storia illustrata n°8 Anno 1965, pag. 243: "Nel 1943, quando gli alleati giunsero a Napoli, era ancora detenuto nel penitenziario di Ponza. Fu liberato e andò a prendere alloggio a Capri. Pochi giorni dopo, quel porticciolo venne bombardato dai tedeschi. Lucetti andò a rifugiarsi a bordo di un motoveliero che, colpito, affondò in pochi minuti trascinandolo sott'acqua." The anarchist brigade "'' Battaglione Lucetti''" of the

Italian Resistance The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

during

World War II 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 opposin ...

was named after him.

References

Further reading