Simone Simoni (24 December 1880 – 24 March 1944) was an Italian general and

Resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

member 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 opposin ...

Biography

Simoni joined the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

in 1904. In 1908, with the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

, he participated in the rescue effort after the

Messina earthquake The 1908 Messina earthquake (also known as the 1908 Messina and Reggio earthquake) occurred on 28 December in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy with a moment magnitude of 7.1 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). The epicente ...

, finding the remains of his fiancée under the rubble in

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popul ...

. He later married and had four children. After participating in the conquest of Libya, he distinguished himself during the

First World War 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 ...

, earning four

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and two bronze medals for military valour until he was seriously wounded and captured during the

battle of Caporetto The Battle of Caporetto (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, the Battle of Kobarid or the Battle of Karfreit) was a battle on the Italian front of World War I. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central ...

. Released after the end of the war, he was recognized as a war invalid for his injuries. On February 24, 1923, with the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

, he participated in the foundation 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 ...

of the Blue Ribbon Institute (initially called the "Blue Legion"), gathering all recipients of awards for military valour in a nationalist perspective that saw the Great War as the fulfilment of the

Italian Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

. Simoni was thus one of the founding members of the Institute, along with

Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa. Due to his young a ...

Alessandro Pirzio Biroli Alessandro Pirzio Biroli (23 July 1877 – 20 May 1962) was an Italian fencer and army General. Biography Biroli won a silver medal competing in the team sabre event at the 1908 Summer Olympics. During the First World War Biroli fought in ...

, Cesare de Vecchi,

Alfredo Guzzoni Alfredo Guzzoni (12 April 1877 – 15 April 1965) was an Italian military officer who served in both World War I and World War II. Early life Guzzoni was a native of Mantua, Italy. Italian Army Guzzoni joined the Italian Royal Army ('' Regio Es ...

, Eugenio Casagrande and

Giacomo Acerbo Giacomo Acerbo, Baron of Aterno (25 July 1888 – 9 January 1969) was an Italian economist and politician who drafted the Acerbo Law. Early life He was born to an old family of the local nobility of Loreto Aprutino. He was educated in Pisa, ...

. In 1932 he was transferred to the Army Reserve with the rank of

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. He then became president of a commercial company based in Rome, where he had moved with his family. His eldest son, Gastone Simone Simoni, who had followed his father's footsteps and pursued a military career (reaching the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" 185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" ( it, 185ª Divisione Paracadutisti "Folgore") was an airborne division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The division was formed in Tarquinia near Rome on 1 September 1941. In July 1942 the di ...

), was killed in action in October 1942 during the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...

, being posthumously awarded the

Gold Medal of Military Valor The Gold Medal of Military Valour ( it, Medaglia d'oro al valor militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The fac ...

. After the announcement of the

armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brig ...

on 8 September 1943, Simoni participated in the attempts to organize the resistance to the occupation of Rome by the German troops, and following the agreement that resulted in the ceasefire and German occupation of the capital, he joined the

Clandestine Military Front The Clandestine Military Front (Italian: Fronte Militare Clandestino) was an organization of the Italian Resistance that operated in German-occupied Rome between September 1943 and June 1944. It consisted of some 2,300 men, largely Army officers who ...

, lending his own house and offices as clandestine headquarters of the Front. He was however reported by an informant and arrested at his home by SS soldiers on 23 January 1944, while returning from an important organizational meeting of the Front held in the aftermath of the Allied landing at Anzio. He was then imprisoned in the SS prison in via Tasso, where he was repeatedly interrogated and tortured, as well as subjected to a

mock execution A mock execution is a stratagem in which a victim is deliberately but falsely made to feel that their execution or that of another person is imminent or is taking place. The subject is made to believe that they are being led to their own executio ...

, without ever revealing what the Germans wanted, namely the names of other resistance members and their hiding places. During his imprisonment, he managed to secretly send out of the prison a piece of paper with a short encrypted message, which, translated, read: "Simone Simoni - cell - twelve - Giuseppe - Ferrari - two. I am - beaten up - I suffer - with - pride - my – thought

oes Oes or owes were metallic "O" shaped rings or eyelets sewn on to clothes and furnishing textiles for decorative effect in England and at the Elizabethan and Jacobean court. They were smaller than modern sequins. Making and metals Robert Sharp obta ...

- to - my - fatherland - and - my - family". On 24 March 1944, he was executed with 334 other prisoners in the

Fosse Ardeatine massacre The Ardeatine massacre, or Fosse Ardeatine massacre ( it, Eccidio delle Fosse Ardeatine), was a mass killing of 335 civilians and political prisoners carried out in Rome on 24 March 1944 by German occupation troops during the Second World War ...

. He was posthumously awarded the gold medal for military valour.Mausoleo delle Fosse Ardeatine
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simoni, Simone 1880 births 1944 deaths Italian Army generals Italian military personnel of World War I Italian military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Italian prisoners of war Royal Italian Army personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Gold Medal of Military Valor Executed military leaders Fosse Ardeatine massacre victims World War I prisoners of war held by Austria-Hungary