Sabatino Enrico 'Nello' Rosselli (Rome, 29 November 1900 – Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, 9 June 1937) was an Italian

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

leader and historian.

Biography

Rosselli was born 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 ...

to a prominent

Jew 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""Th ...

ish family. His parents were Giuseppe Emanuele "Joe" Rosselli (1867 - 1911) and Amelia Pincherle (1870 - 1954), who was the paternal aunt to writer

Alberto Moravia Alberto Moravia ( , ; born Alberto Pincherle ; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990) was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia is best known for his d ...

. Nello was the youngest of three sons, the others being Aldo Sabatino (1895 - 1916), died in World War I and

Carlo Alberto Charles Albert (; 2 October 1798 – 28 July 1849) was the King of Sardinia from 27 April 1831 until 23 March 1849. His name is bound up with the first Italian constitution, the Statuto Albertino, Albertine Statute, and with the First Italian ...

(1899–1937). Nello was a member of the

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

Unitary Socialist Party of

Filippo Turati Filippo Turati (; 26 November 1857 – 29 March 1932) was an Italian sociologist, criminologist, poet and socialist politician. Early life Born in Canzo, province of Como, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 1877, and participa ...

Giacomo Matteotti Giacomo Matteotti (; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence ...

and

Claudio Treves Claudio Treves (24 March 1869 – 11 June 1933) was an Italian politician and journalist. Life Youth Claudio Treves was born in Turin into a well off assimilated Jewish family. As a student he participated in the Radical milieu of Turin and, ...

, which had split from the PSI. After the rise 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 ...

, he fled to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

with his brother, and became active there in

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 ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

politics, helping to found the group

Giustizia e Libertà Giustizia e Libertà (; en, Justice and Freedom) was an Italian anti-fascist resistance movement, active from 1929 to 1945.James D. Wilkinson (1981). ''The Intellectual Resistance Movement in Europe''. Harvard University Press. p. 224. The mov ...

and aiding the Republicans in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, as well as carrying out propaganda missions within Italy.

Murder

In June 1937, Nello went to visit his brother, Carlo, at the French resort town of

Bagnoles-de-l'Orne Bagnoles-de-l'Orne is a former commune in the Orne department in northwestern France. On 1 January 2000, Tessé-la-Madeleine and Bagnoles-de-l'Orne merged becoming one town called Bagnoles-de-l'Orne, however, it adopted the former Insee code of T ...

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Cagoule A cagoule (), also spelled cagoul, kagoule or kagool, is the British English term for a lightweight weatherproof raincoat or anorak with a hood (usually without lining), which often comes in knee-length form.The Chambers Dictionary, 1994, The C ...

, a French fascist group, with archival documents implicating Mussolini's regime in authorizing the murder.Peter Isaac Rose (2005). ''The Dispossessed: An Anatomy Of Exile''. University of Massachusetts Press, pp. 138–139. The two brothers were buried in the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figures ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, but in 1951 the family moved them to Italy into the Monumental Cemetery of Trespiano, a

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

of Florence. His wife Maria Todesco, their four children Silvia, Paola, Aldo and Alberto, and his mother Amelia Pincherle Rosselli survived him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosselli, Nello 1900 births 1937 deaths Politicians from Rome Jewish Italian politicians Italian anti-fascists Assassinated Italian people Italian people murdered abroad Deaths by stabbing in France Unitary Socialist Party (Italy, 1922) politicians Members of Giustizia e Libertà 20th-century Italian politicians Terrorism deaths in France Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Jewish anti-fascists Exiled Italian politicians Italian people of the Spanish Civil War Italian social liberals 20th-century Italian Jews Jewish socialists People murdered in France Assassinated activists Italian Anti-Francoists