Guido Leto (
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, 1895 – 1956) was an Italian police official, head of the
OVRA
The OVRA, whose most probable name was Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism ( it, Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1927 under the ...
, the
secret police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
of the
Fascist regime
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 ...
, from 1938 to 1945. Throughout his career as a policeman he served under the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
, the
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
, and the
Italian Republic
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 re ...
.
Biography
After graduating in
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
, Leto started his career as a
civil servant
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
in 1919, and from 1922 he worked for the
Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
. From 1926 he began working with the chief of the police, Francesco Crispo Moncada. Immediately after
Violet Gibson
Violet Albina Gibson (31 August 1876 – 2 May 1956) was an Irish woman who attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini in 1926. She was released without charge but spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric hospital in England.
She was the daug ...
's attempted assassination of
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 ...
, he was tasked with gathering information in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
in order to find out if there had been international instigators behind the attack; after returning to Italy, Leto reported that Gibson was indeed suffering from
mental problems and had acted on her own initiative.
After failing to prevent the assassination attempt on Mussolini by
Gino Lucetti
Gino Lucetti (31 August 1900 – 17 September 1943) was an Italian anarchist and anti-fascist who attempted to assassinate the dictator Benito Mussolini in 1926.
After World War I he was involved in many clashes and political brawls during the B ...
, Crispo Moncada was replaced as chief of the police by the prefect of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
,
Arturo Bocchini
Arturo Bocchini (; 12 February 1880 – 20 November 1940) was an Italian civil servant, who was appointed Chief of the Police under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini. , with whom Leto established a strong professional bond. Leto then joined the Special Subversive Movement Office (''Ufficio speciale movimento sovversivo'', established in 1925 and operational until 1930). He took part, together with Michelangelo Di Stefano, in the investigation on the attempted assassination of King
Victor Emmanuel III
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
in 1928, a
bomb attack at the
Milan Fair that had resulted in twenty deaths and forty wounded. The investigation led to the arrest of several members of the
Justice and Freedom
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
movement, including Umberto Ceva, who was accused to have prepared the bomb and who committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
in prison,
Ernesto Rossi Ernesto Rossi may refer to:
* Ernesto Rossi (actor) (1827–1896), Italian actor
* Ernesto Rossi (politician) (1897–1967), Italian politician and anti-fascist activist
* Ernesto Rossi (gangster) (1903–1931), Italian-American gangster
{{hndis, ...
and Riccardo Bauer, who in 1931 were sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment by the
Special Tribunal for the Defense of the State
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Specia ...
, although their responsibility in the attack was never proven.
Leto was appointed deputy ''questore'' in 1932, second class ''questore'' in 1936 and first class ''questore'' in 1938. In 1935 he was appointed head of the General and Confidential Affairs Division (''Divisione Affari Generali e Riservati'', DAGR), tasked with surveillance and repression of
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
activities. Because of his knowledge of foreign languages, he often had assignments abroad and relations with his counterparts in various countries. He was also a member of the US Police Chiefs Association and the
International Criminal Police Commission
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
.
[Einaudi. La spia intoccabile]
in Italian)
In October 1938 he succeeded Michelangelo Di Stefano at the helm of the Political Police Division of the Ministry of the Interior, on Bocchini's appointment. After the beginning of 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 opposin ...
, on behalf of the chief of police, Leto arranged for the collection of information from the Quaestors on the feelings of the Italians towards the war.
[
After the ]fall of Fascism
The fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, also known in Italy as 25 Luglio ( it, Venticinque Luglio, ; "25 July"), came as a result of parallel plots led respectively by Count Dino Grandi and King Victor Emmanuel III during the spring and sum ...
on 25 July 1943, Leto was granted protection by a family friend, anti-fascist Rosario Bentivegna, a former university classmate and friend of his son Disma, whom he had previously released from prison. Although he was among the targets chosen for assassination by the Roman GAP, Bentivegna successfully opposed this project.
Leto later joined the Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
, becoming deputy chief of its police as well as resuming his duties as head of the OVRA, which after being abolished by the new Italian government in July 1943, had been re-established by the new Fascist state on 18 September 1943. In December 1943 he directed an operation in Rome, carried out by Erich Priebke
Erich Priebke (29 July 1913 – 11 October 2013) was a German mid-level SS commander in the SS police force (SiPo) of Nazi Germany. In 1996, he was convicted of war crimes in Italy, for commanding the unit which was responsible for the Ar ...
and Pietro Koch
Pietro Koch (18 August 1918 – 4 June 1945) was an Italian soldier and leader of the Banda Koch, a group notorious for its anti-partisan activity in the Republic of Salò.
Biography
The son of an Imperial German Navy officer, Koch was born in B ...
, that resulted in the arrest of eighteen anti-Fascists, including Communist Giovanni Roveda. In March 1944 he moved to Valdagno
Valdagno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, north-eastern Italy. The town was the birthplace of the textile manufacturing company Marzotto, and home to the Italian hotel chain " Jolly Hotels"
Geography
The town extends along t ...
, bringing with him a substantial part of the OVRA archive (6,000 boxes of documents) which was housed in the premises of the wool mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
owned by industrialist Gaetano Marzotto. Following the collapse of the Italian Social Republic, Leto was temporarily confirmed by the Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
authorities as the curator and manager of the aforementioned archive (later transferred to Rome in the Viminale
The Viminal Hill ( ; la, Collis Vīminālis ; it, Viminale ) is the smallest of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. A finger-shape cusp pointing toward central Rome between the Quirinal Hill to the northwest and the Esquiline Hill to the southeast ...
cellars); according to historian Giuseppe De Lutiis, when it arrived in Rome, the archive was ransacked in order to eliminate from the lists of informants the names of some people “who had managed to rebuild a democratic virginity”.
Leto, who returned to Rome in 1945, was arrested and imprisoned in Regina Coeli
"Regina caeli" (; Queen of Heaven) is a musical antiphon addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary that is used in the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church during the Easter season, from Easter Sunday until Pentecost. During this sea ...
and subjected to an "epuration" commission. During his imprisonment in Regina Coeli, on 27 September 1945, he was taken to the home of Mario Spallone, a prison doctor and friend of Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
leader Palmiro Togliatti
Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti (; 26 March 1893 – 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death. He was nicknamed ("The Best") by his supporters. In 1930 he became a citizen of ...
, and personally interrogated by Togliatti before being taken back to his cell. Two days later he was once again taken from his cell and taken to the home of Pietro Nenni
Pietro Sandro Nenni (; 9 February 1891 – 1 January 1980) was an Italian socialist politician, the national secretary of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and senator for life since 1970. He was a recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1951. He w ...
, leader of the Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country.
Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...
, where he stayed for about an hour and a half. He was also interrogated by the Allied secret services for about ten days. On 12 April 1946 he was acquitted in the Court of Appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
from the charges brought against him; according to historian Mimmo Franzinelli, he exchanged his immunity for the destruction of documents that implicated members of anti-Fascist parties in collaboration with the regime.
In 1948 he was reinstated into service and was recalled by Federico Umberto D'Amato
Federico Umberto D'Amato (4 June 1919 – 1 August 1996)Carlo Lucarelli, ''Piazza Fontana'', Turin, Einaudi, 2007. p. 100 was an Italian secret agent, who led the Office for Reserved Affairs of the Ministry of Interior (Italy) from the 1950s til ...
with the task of reactivating the Italian secret services. In 1951 ended his career in the police as Technical Director of Police Schools; in the same year he published a book about the OVRA, where he claimed that the name of the Fascist secret police was not an acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
and had no meaning, but had been chosen personally by Mussolini for its assonance with the word ''piovra'' (octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
), to indicate a tentacular police force that would keep the whole country under control; the Duce was convinced that the mysterious name of OVRA "... would have aroused curiosity, fear, a sense of elusive surveillance and omnipotence".
After his retirement from the police, Count Marzotto, whom he had met in Valdagno, appointed him director of his hotel chain, Jolly Hotel. He died in 1956.
Director Marco Leto
Marco Leto (18 January 1931 – 21 April 2016) was an Italian film and television director and screenwriter.
Born in Rome, Leto started his career in the 1950s as an assistant director in a large number of films. In 1965 he started a colla ...
was his son.[Massimo Caserta, "Il film: La Villeggiatura di Marco Leto", Centro Studi e Documentazione Isola di Ustica n. 15-16 – December 2003-April 2004, p. 21]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leto, Guido
1895 births
1956 deaths
Italian police officers
Italian Fascism