Piero Parini (13 November 1894 – 23 August 1993) 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 ...

journalist, politician and soldier. He 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 ...

and the

Second Italo-Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...

. He rose through the ranks of the Italian political establishment through his work as diplomat and director of the Fascist newspaper ''

Il Popolo d'Italia ''Il Popolo d'Italia'' ("The People of Italy") was an Italian newspaper published from 15 November 1914 until 24 July 1943. It was founded by Benito Mussolini as a pro-war newspaper during World War I, and it later became the main newspaper of ...

''. 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 opposing ...

, he became the de facto ruler of the annexed Ionian Islands in Greece, and later supported the Italian Social Republic, becoming the mayor of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Early career

Piero Parini was born on 13 November 1894 in

, into a family of a railway official. During World War I he fought as an officer of ''

Corpo Aeronautico Militare The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) was formed as part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army) on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballo ...

''. Following the end of the war he became a foreign correspondent and later director for the Fascist flagship newspaper ''

''. In 1928, he was appointed coordinator of Fascist organizations of the Italian diaspora. He later worked as the Italian ambassador in Aleppo. In 1936, he founded and commanded a unit of Italian expatriates in the

, capturing the city of Dire Dawa. In 1937, he visited Japan and China as part of a diplomatic mission. In 1939, he became an advisor of the prime minister of the puppet Albanian Kingdom,

Shefqet Vërlaci Shefqet bey Vërlaci (; 15 December 1877, Elbasan, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire – 21 July 1946, Zürich, Switzerland), also known as Shevket Verlaci, was an Albanian politician and wealthy landowner. Biography In 1922, Vërlaci was the b ...

Later career

Following the Battle of Greece and the Axis occupation of Greece, the Ionian Islands came under Italian control. On 22 April 1941, after discussions between the German and Italian rulers, Adolf Hitler agreed that Italy could proceed with a de facto annexation of the islands. On 5 June 1941, Parini arrived at Corfu as the new Chief of the Political Affairs Bureau of the Ionian Islands, a political body ruling the islands. Parini accommodated the bureau headquarters in the Mon Repos villa, enacting a rigorous Italianization campaign. On 10 August, the Ionian Islands, except

Kythira Kythira (, ; el, Κύθηρα, , also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira) is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands ...

, were annexed by Italy as part of the ''Grande Communità del Nuovo Impero Romano'' (Great Community of the New Roman Empire). On 16 August, Parini replaced Corfu mayor Spyridon Kollas with lawyer Gerasimos Tryfonas, to sever all administrative ties between the islands and the Greek mainland and the collaborationist government in Athens. Parini ruled as de facto dictator imposing new laws or ignoring existing ones as he pleased. Parini encouraged the migration of Italians to the islands, expanded and legalized the underground Fascist organizations, and promoted his policies through a radio station and the official newspaper ''Jonica'', later replaced by ''Gazzetta Jonica''. Pictures of the heroes of the Greek War of Independence were removed from public schools as were book chapters dealing with modern Greek history. The Italian language became a mandatory school subject and shop owners were forced to use bilingual signs. On 25 March 1942, the circulation of the

Greek drachma The drachma ( el, δραχμή , ; pl. ''drachmae'' or ''drachmas'') was the currency used in Greece during several periods in its history: # An ancient Greek currency unit issued by many Greek city states during a period of ten centuries, f ...

was outlawed and replaced by the Italian Ionian drachma. Greek stamps were replaced in a similar manner. The Ionian Islands did not manage to escape the horrors of the Great Famine of 1941–42, partially due to Parini's refusal to allow the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

to distribute aid in the region. Following the Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, Parini departed Corfu in late August 1943 on the yacht ''Aspasia'', while a second ship carried 40 crates of looted art he had collected. He supported the Italian Social Republic and was appointed mayor of Milan. In April 1945 he escaped to Switzerland with forged Spanish papers along with his second wife Melpo Fafaliou, whom he had married in 1944 following the death of his first spouse Rozetta Colombi. The authenticity of the papers was soon questioned and Parini was deported to Italy, where he was given a 12-year prison term by a military tribunal for war crimes committed during his spell as mayor of Milan; he was released in 1946 in an amnesty. A second trial regarding war crimes committed in the Ionian Islands ended in his acquittal. He then emigrated to South America with his wife, where he died in 1993.

Footnotes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parini, Piero 1894 births 1993 deaths Mayors of Milan Italian military personnel of World War II Journalists from Milan Italian male journalists Diplomats from Milan Italian military personnel of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War 20th-century Italian politicians People of the Italian Social Republic Italian military personnel of World War I Italian occupation of Greece during World War II History of the Ionian Islands 20th-century Italian journalists 20th-century Italian male writers Italian people convicted of war crimes