Sergio Panunzio (20 July 1886 – 8 October 1944) was an Italian theoretician of

national syndicalism National syndicalism is a far-right adaptation of syndicalism to suit the broader agenda of integral nationalism. National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. It is ge ...

. In the 1920s, he became a major theoretician of Italian Fascism.

Early life

Sergio Panunzio was born on 20 July 1886 in

Molfetta Molfetta (; Molfettese: ) is a town located in the northern side of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has a well restored old city, and its own dialect. History The earliest local signs of permanent habitation are ...

, Italy. He started his political involvement young by associating with syndicalist circles in 1902. From the

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...

, he obtained two degrees, in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

in 1908 and in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

in 1911.

Career

Panunzio became the head of the Fascist Faculty of Political Sciences at Perugia University in 1928. Panunzio said that syndicalism is the historical development of

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. He pointed to

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 ...

and

Francesco Saverio Merlino Francesco Saverio Merlino (9 September 1856 – 30 June 1930) was an Italian lawyer, anarchist activist and theorist of libertarian socialism. Life Merlino was born on 9 September 1856 in Naples.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 ...

to fit the times and emboldening it. He is said to have spearheaded the revisionism that led many syndicalists through interventionism to

corporativism Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

and he ostensibly "gave

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 Fall of the Fascist re ...

's dictatorship a veneer of revolutionary legitimacy". (From the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, 15 March 2005) Panunzio criticized the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

state as a "dictatorship ''over'' the proletariat, and not ''of'' the proletariat". He is quoted as saying, "

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

bows before the light radiating from

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 ...

. The

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

no longer speaks to the spirit; it is dead." He opposed the

anti-Semitic 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 ...

campaign of 1938. A strong supporter of the state for its own sake, he had a long-running academic dispute with the

corporatist Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

Carlo Costamagna regarding the role of fascism.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *''Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester Pres ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...

'', 1990, p. 68

Death

Panunzio died on 8 October 1944.

Works

*''La Persistenza del Diritto (Discutendo di Sindacalismo e di Anarchismo)'' he Persistence of the Right (A Discussion about Syndicalism and Anarchism)( Pescara: Casa Editrice Abruzzese, 1909). *''Diritto, forza e violenza; lineamenti di una teoria della violenza. Con prefazione di R. Mondolfo'' (Bologna, L. Cappelli, 1921) *''Italo Balbo'' (Milano, Imperia, 1923) *''Stato nazionale e sindacati'' (

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 ...

: Imperia, 1924) *''Che cos' è il fascismo'' (Milan: Alpes, 1924) *''Lo stato fascista'' (

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

: , 1925) *''Il sentimento dello stato'' (Rome, Libreria del Littorio, 1929) *''Il diritto sindacale e corporativo (programma, concetto, metodo) ( Perugia-Venezia: "La Nuova Italia", 1930) *''Popolo, nazione, stato (esame giuridico)'' (

Firenze Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, "La Nuova Italia" Editrice, 1933) *''I sindacati e l'organizzazione economica dell'impero'' (Roma, Istituto poligrafico dello stato, Libreria, 1938) *''Sulla natura giuridica dell'impero italiano d'Etiopia'' (Roma, Istituto poligrafico dello stato, Libreria, 1938) *''L'organizzazione sindacale e l'economia dell'impero'' (Roma, Istituto poligrafico dello stato, Libreria, 1939) *''La Camera dei fasci e delle corporazioni'' (

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, Stabilimento arti grafiche Trinacria, 1939) *''Teoria generale dello stato fascista'' 2. ed., ampliata ed aggiornata (Padova, CEDAM, Casa editrice dott. A. Milani, 1939) *''Teoria generale dello stato fascista'', 2nd ed., enl. (

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

: CEDAM, 1939) *''Spagna nazionalsindacalista'' (Milano, Bietti, 1942) *''Motivi e metodo della codificazione fascista'' (Milano, A. Giuffrè, 1943)

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Panunzio, Sergio 1886 births 1944 deaths People from Molfetta Italian fascists National syndicalists Academic staff of the University of Perugia