''La Difesa della Razza'' (

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 ...

: ''In Defence of Race'') was a Fascist biweekly magazine which was published in Rome between 1938 and 1943 during the Fascist rule in Italy. Its subtitle was ''Scienza, Documentazione, Polemica''. It played a significant role in the implementation of the racial ideology following the invasion of Ethiopia and the introduction of the

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Disabilities (Jewish), Jewish "disabilities". Some were adopted in the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany ...

in 1938.

History and profile

''La Difesa della Razza'' was first published on 5 August 1938. It was established by the Office for the Racial Problems headed by Guido Landra. The founding director of the magazine was Giulio Cogni, but he left the post when he recognized that his ideas about races had been used by the Fascist leaders without making any reference to him. Cogni was replaced by

Telesio Interlandi Telesio Interlandi (20 October 1894 – 15 January 1965) was an Italian journalist and propagandist. He was one of the leading advocates of antisemitism in Fascist Italy. Born in Chiaramonte Gulfi, Interlandi took his degree in law and became a ...

in the post.

Giorgio Almirante Giorgio Almirante (27 June 1914 – 22 May 1988) was an Italian politician, the founder and leader of neo-fascist Italian Social Movement until his retirement in 1987. Early life Almirante was born at Salsomaggiore Terme, in Emilia Romagna, ...

served as its editorial secretary and was the assistant to Interlandi. The editorial board of the magazine included leading physicians and scientists. It came out biweekly. ''La Difesa della Razza'' was financed by several public institutions, including the

Ministry of Popular Culture The Ministry of Popular Culture ( it, Ministero della Cultura Popolare, commonly abbreviated to MinCulPop) was a ministry of the Italian government from 1937 to 1944. History It was established by the Fascist government in 1922 as the ''Press ...

, banks, industrial and insurance companies. It folded on 20 June 1943 after producing 118 issues.

Ideology, content and contributors

The first issue of the magazine featured a

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

, ''Manifesto della Razza'', by the scholars which was the guiding principle of the racist ideology of Fascist Italy. Following the publication of this manifesto the approach of the state towards the Italian Jews and its colonial policies changed. The magazine described its goals in the first issue as follows:

We will popularize, with the help of scholars of various disciplines related to the problem, the fundamental concepts upon which the doctrine of Italian racism is based; and we will prove that science is on our side.

It was a supporter of the

cultural racism Cultural racism, sometimes called neo-racism, new racism, postmodern racism, or differentialist racism, is a concept that has been applied to prejudices and discrimination based on cultural differences between ethnic or racial groups. This inclu ...

and Italian

primitivism Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...

rejecting the premises of

European modernism European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

. Some of its contributors were Lino Businco, Luigi Castaldi, Elio Gasteiner, Guido Landra and Marcello Ricci who were scientific figures and published articles about

biological racism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racism ( racial discrimination), racial inferiority, or racial superiority.. "Few tragedies can be mor ...

. Guido Landra's articles were mostly concerned with

hereditary diseases A genetic disorder is a health problem caused by one or more abnormalities in the genome. It can be caused by a mutation in a single gene (monogenic) or multiple genes (polygenic) or by a chromosomal abnormality. Although polygenic disorders ...

. The other frequent topic covered in the magazine was

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. Not only

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

but also

Black people Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

were depicted in a negative manner in the magazine through photographs.

Circulation

Shortly after its launch ''La Difesa della Razza'' sold 150,000 copies per issue. However, from November 1940 its circulation significantly decreased because of the start of

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Difesa della Razza 1938 establishments in Italy 1943 disestablishments in Italy Biweekly magazines published in Italy Defunct political magazines published in Italy Fascist newspapers and magazines Former state media Italian-language magazines Magazines established in 1938 Magazines disestablished in 1943 Magazines published in Rome Propaganda newspapers and magazines Antisemitism in Italy Antisemitic publications