Pietro Fedele (15 April 1873 –9 January 1943) was an Italian historian and

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

politician who served as Minister of Public Education of 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 ...

from 1925 to 1928.

Biography

He was born in

Traetto Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in the southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris), with a suburb on the opposite bank about from its mouth, at the point where the Via Appia crosse ...

, present-day

Minturno Minturno is a city and ''comune'' in the southern Lazio, Italy, situated on the north west bank of the Garigliano (known in antiquity as the Liris), with a suburb on the opposite bank about from its mouth, at the point where the Via Appia crosse ...

, on April 15, 1873, to Ferdinando Fedele, a factory worker, and Angela Conte, a farmer. His elder brother, Salvatore, was a clergyman and sent him to study at the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

; Pietro, however, left it to finish his studies at the

Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Pontifical University of the Holy Cross ( la, Pontificia Universitas Sanctae Crucis, it, Pontificia Università della Santa Croce) is a Roman Catholic university under the Curial Congregation for Catholic Education, now entrusted to the Prela ...

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 ...

. In 1890, he moved to the University of Rome, where he attended courses in

Christian archeology Biblical archaeology is an academic school and a subset of Biblical studies and Levantine archaeology. Biblical archaeology studies archaeological sites from the Ancient Near East and especially the Holy Land (also known as Palestine, Land ...

Romance philology Romance studies or Romance philology ( an, filolochía romanica; ca, filologia romànica; french: romanistique; eo, latinida filologio; it, filologia romanza; pt, filologia românica; ro, romanistică; es, filología románica) is an acade ...

paleography Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US; ultimately from grc-gre, , ''palaiós'', "old", and , ''gráphein'', "to write") is the study of historic writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts, including the analysi ...

diplomatics Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

and

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. He finally graduated in

Literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

in 1894. He began his career as a teacher in the

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

s of Rome,

Arpino Arpino ( Southern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, region of Lazio in central Italy, about 100 km SE of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. The town produced two consuls of the ...

Sezze Sezze (from the Latin "Setia") is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Latina, central Italy, about south of Rome and from the Mediterranean coast. The historical center of Sezze is located on a high hill commanding the Pontine plain. Th ...

and

Velletri Velletri (; la, Velitrae; xvo, Velester) is an Italian ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, approximately 40 km to the southeast of the city centre, located in the Alban Hills, in the region of Lazio, central Italy. Neighbouring com ...

, and then moved on to the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s of

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

and

Naples 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 ...

. In 1905, he obtained the chair of

modern history The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is applie ...

at the Scientific-Literary Academy 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 ...

, and from 1910 was professor of modern history at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...

, then at the University of Rome from 1914, and from 1933, professor of medieval history at the same university. An expert in the history of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, from 5 June 1933 to his death he was president of the Italian Historical Institute for the Middle Ages, of which he proposed the change of headquarters to the

Oratorio dei Filippini The Oratorio dei Filippini (Oratory of Saint Philip Neri) is a building located in Rome and erected between 1637 and 1650 under the supervision of architect Francesco Borromini - in his distinctive style. The oratory is adjacent to the Chiesa N ...

. He was also a member of the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

from 1926. In the 1930s he directed the editing of the Great UTET Encyclopedic Dictionary, one of the most important Italian

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

s. He married Tecla De Fabritiis, from

Itri The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; ) is a technology research and development institution in Taiwan. Founded in 1973, ITRI has contributed to moving Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive to innovation-driven. ITRI is hea ...

, and had a daughter with her, Giovanna.

Political career

Too old to participate 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 ...

, he was an outspoken interventist. In April 1924, he was elected to the

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical funct ...

, and in September of the same year he joined the

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...

, later becoming a member of the

Grand Council of Fascism The Grand Council of Fascism (, also translated "Fascist Grand Council") was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It was created as a body of the ...

. On 5 January 1925,

Alessandro Casati Alessandro Casati (5 March 1881 – 4 June 1955) was an Italian academic, commentator and politician. He served as a senator between 1923 and 1924 and again between 1948 and 1953. He also held ministerial office, most recently as Ministe ...

, Minister of Public Education, resigned in protest against the speech with which

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 ...

had taken moral responsibility for the murder of

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 the

Duce ( , ) is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word 'leader', and a cognate of ''duke''. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as ('The Leader') of the movement since the birth of the in 1919. In 1925 ...

chose Fedele as his successor. The choice, opposed by

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo-Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for I ...

(who would have preferred

Balbino Giuliano Balbino Giuliano (4 January 1879 – 13 June 1958) was an Italian historian and Fascist politician who served as Minister of National Education of the Kingdom of Italy from 1929 to 1932. Biography After graduating in literature and philoso ...

), was due to Fedele's excellent relationship with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and to his personal friendship with

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

. During his tenure as minister, he committed himself to the complete fascistization of schools, preventing the appointment of teachers not enrolled in the Fascist Party and starting the drafting of a single textbook for the entire nation. He also ordered the resumption of the archaeological excavations of

Herculaneum Herculaneum (; Neapolitan and it, Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Like the nea ...

and

Pompeii Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...

, the recovery of the

Nemi ships The Nemi ships were two ships, one larger than the other, built under the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula in the 1st century CE on Lake Nemi. Although the purpose of the ships is only speculated upon, the larger ship was an elaborate floa ...

and the opening of the Directorate General for libraries. In 1926, he organized a meeting in

Assisi Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and ''comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born aroun ...

with Cardinal

Rafael Merry del Val Rafael Merry del Val y Zulueta, (10 October 1865 – 26 February 1930) was a Spanish Roman Catholic cardinal. Before becoming a cardinal, he served as the secretary of the papal conclave of 1903 that elected Pope Pius X, who is said to have ac ...

aimed at improving relations between Italy and the Church in view of the future

Lateran Pacts The Lateran Treaty ( it, Patti Lateranensi; la, Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle t ...

, the first official meeting between an Italian minister and a papal legate. However, he was often widely criticized by party members for being "too soft"; among his main detractors were

Augusto Turati Augusto Turati (16 April 1888 – 27 August 1955) was an Italian journalist and Fascist politician. Born in Parma, after moving to Brescia as a young man, Turati worked on newspapers and became one of the editors at the liberal ''Provincia ...

, Ernesto Codignola, Vittorio Cian, Bernardo Barbiellini Amidei and, above all, Giovanni Gentile, who wrote about him in an article for ''

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 ...

'', which was never published, "It is clear that he is in the government and among the fascists with the spirit of Don Abbondio." Also, because of this criticism, on 9 July 1928 he left his post, being replaced by

Giuseppe Belluzzo Giuseppe Belluzzo (1876–1952) was an Italian mechanical engineer, scholar and politician. He was a member of the Italian Parliament and of the Italian Senate. He served as the minister of national economy and minister of public education in th ...

. On 22 December of the same year, Mussolini appointed him

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

; the appointment was validated on May 6 and Fedele was sworn in on May 15. Starting from 1930, he held the office of commissioner of the king at the

Heraldic Council The Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation (translated various ways), Russian: ''Геральдический совет при Президенте Российской Федерации'', is a part of the Russian Presidenti ...

, and was also president of the State Polygraphic Institute and vice-president of the High Council of Archives of the Kingdom. He died in

after a long illness on 9 January 1943.BeWeb
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fedele, Pietro 1873 births 1943 deaths Mussolini Cabinet Education ministers of Italy Government ministers of Italy National Fascist Party politicians Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Kingdom of Italy) it:Pietro Fedele