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Paolo Orano (15 June 1875 – 7 April 1945) was an Italian
psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...
, politician and writer. Orano began his political career as a
revolutionary syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence i ...
in
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 189 ...
. He later became a leading figure within 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 ...
, in part through his legitimization of anti-Semitism.


Early life

Orano was born in 1875 in Rome to a local father and a
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...
n mother. He learned literature and philosophy at University of Rome and graduated in 1898. In the next year he began teaching philosophy high schools, including in
Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
, Senigallia and
Tivoli Tivoli may refer to: * Tivoli, Lazio, a town in Lazio, Italy, known for historic sites; the inspiration for other places named Tivoli Buildings * Tivoli (Baltimore, Maryland), a mansion built about 1855 * Tivoli Building (Cheyenne, Wyoming), ...
. He also worked with various publishers.


Syndicalism

Orano began his political career as one of a number of leading syndicalist thinkers associated with 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 189 ...
at the turn of the century. His estrangement from the Socialists began in 1905 when he resigned his position at the newspaper ''
Avanti! ''Avanti!'' is a 1972 American/Italian international co-production comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Samuel A. Taylor's play, ...
'' following the dismissal of syndicalist Enrico Leone. Along with fellow syndicalists
Arturo Labriola Arturo Labriola (; 21 January 1873 – 23 June 1959) was an Italian revolutionary syndicalist and socialist politician and journalist. Biography Early political activity (until 1897) Labriola was born in Naples on 21 January 1873 to Luigi ...
and
Robert Michels Robert Michels (; 9 January 1876 – 3 May 1936) was a German-born Italian sociologist who contributed to elite theory by describing the political behavior of intellectual elites. He belonged to the Italian school of elitism. He is best know ...
, as well as nationalist
Enrico Corradini Enrico Corradini (20 July 1865 – 10 December 1931) was an Italian novelist, essayist, journalist and nationalist political figure. Biography Corradini was born near Montelupo Fiorentino, Tuscany. A follower of Gabriele D'Annunzio, he founded ...
, Orano became part of a group of intellectuals who followed the ideals of
Georges Sorel Georges Eugène Sorel (; ; 2 November 1847 – 29 August 1922) was a French social thinker, political theorist, historian, and later journalist. He has inspired theories and movements grouped under the name of Sorelianism. His social and ...
. To this end he founded his own weekly journal, '' La Lupa'', in October 1910. It came to represent the first collaboration between syndicalists like Orano and nationalists like
Enrico Corradini Enrico Corradini (20 July 1865 – 10 December 1931) was an Italian novelist, essayist, journalist and nationalist political figure. Biography Corradini was born near Montelupo Fiorentino, Tuscany. A follower of Gabriele D'Annunzio, he founded ...
.
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 ...
would later claim that this paper was an influence on his political ideas. Orano became a strong critic of democracy, seeing it as the cause of Italy's ills and his rhetoric, along with that of fellow syndicalists such as
Filippo Corridoni Filippo Corridoni (19 August 1887, in Pausula today Corridonia, Italy – 23 October 1915, in San Martino del Carso, Italy) was an Italian trade unionist and syndicalist, and the friend of future fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Corridoni died ...
and Angelo Olivetti, was by 1914 very similar to that coming from the
Italian Nationalist Association The Italian Nationalist Association (''Associazione Nazionalista Italiana'', ANI) was Italy's first nationalist political movement founded in 1910, under the influence of Italian nationalists such as Enrico Corradini and Giovanni Papini. Upon i ...
. Orano supported the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, ostensibly because he hoped that it would strengthen both the
bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. Th ...
and
proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...
and thus hasten the process of
class conflict Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...
and revolution. However his views caused considerable controversy within the syndicalist movement and helped to bring about its fragmentation as many of those associated with the movement, in particular Leone, were anti-war. By the end of the war his positions were largely indistinguishable from those of the nationalists.


Fascism

Orano soon moved over to the Fascists and during the
March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 192 ...
he served as Mussolini's chief of staff, whilst also occupying a seat on the Grand Council of the party.Paul Ginsborg, ''A History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics, 1943-1988'', p. 92 He enjoyed a high-profile under the fascist government, serving in the parliament and holding the post of rector of the
University of Perugia University of Perugia (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale. Th ...
.Joshua D. Zimmerman, ''Jews in Italy under Fascist and Nazi Rule, 1922-1945'', 2005, p. 29 His most notable contribution to fascism was his
anti-semitism 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 ...
and he was the author in 1937 of the book ''The Jews in Italy''.R.J.B. Bosworth, ''The Oxford Handbook of Fascism'', Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 308 The book was influenced by
Bernard Lazare Bernard Lazare (14 June 1865, Nîmes – 1 September 1903, Paris) was a French literary critic, political journalist, polemicist, and anarchist. He was also among the first Dreyfusards. Life Lazare's initial contact with symbolists introduced h ...
in so much as it accepted his thesis that the activities of the
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 ...
themselves helped to cause anti-semitism, although it made no reference to Lazare's refutations of the prejudice. In the book Orano expressed affection for some individual
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""T ...
s, notably Ettore Ovazza, but nonetheless the book helped to legitimise anti-Semitism as a part of Italian fascism and laid the groundwork for later persecutions. Despite this the non-biological nature of his anti-semitism meant that he did not go far enough for
Giovanni Preziosi Giovanni Preziosi (24 October 1881, in Torella dei Lombardi – 26 April 1945, in Milan) was an Italian fascist politician noted for his contributions to Fascist Italy. Early career Born into a middle-class family, he joined the priesthood after ...
, who attacked Orano's work in his journal ''La Vita Italiana''. Captured in 1944 he was held along with many fellow fascist officials at a prison camp at Padula where he died the following year following complications with a
peptic ulcer Peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is a break in the inner lining of the stomach, the first part of the small intestine, or sometimes the lower esophagus. An ulcer in the stomach is called a gastric ulcer, while one in the first part of the intestines ...
haemorrhage.


Other writing

As well as his political writing Orano was also noted for his psychological and philosophical work. His 1897 book ''Cristo e Quirino'' criticised
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
from a
Nietzschean Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) developed his philosophy during the late 19th century. He owed the awakening of his philosophical interest to reading Arthur Schopenhauer's ''Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung'' (''The World as Will and Represe ...
perspective, suggesting that it told people to accept their lot in life and thus solidified
hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
in society. Mussolini would later use these arguments about the parallels between the
Roman 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 the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, and thus common ground between fascism and Catholicism, during his negotiations with
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 f ...
, much to horror of the pontiff who considered the very notion heretical. His 1902 book ''Psicologia Sociale'' sought to attack
transpersonal psychology Transpersonal psychology, or spiritual psychology, is a sub-field or school of psychology that integrates the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human experience with the framework of modern psychology. The '' transpersonal'' is defined ...
and instead argued in favour of
materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialis ...
and
inductive reasoning Inductive reasoning is a method of reasoning in which a general principle is derived from a body of observations. It consists of making broad generalizations based on specific observations. Inductive reasoning is distinct from ''deductive'' re ...
that took into account the works of
Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
. Jaap van Ginneken, ''Crowds, Psychology, and Politics, 1871-1899'', 1992, p. 88


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orano, Paolo 1875 births 1945 deaths Italian fascists Italian syndicalists Italian psychologists Italian male writers Italian Socialist Party politicians Writers from Rome National syndicalists Antisemitism in Italy Academic staff of the University of Perugia Deaths from ulcers Deaths from gastrointestinal hemorrhage Italian magazine founders