Arturo Bocchini (; 12 February 1880 – 20 November 1940) was an Italian civil servant, who was appointed Chief of the Police under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini.Arturo Bocchini
''Polizia di Stato'' Bocchini held the office from September 1926 until his death in November 1940, becoming a key figure in the Italian regime. He was the head both of the regular police ( State Police) and the

secret police Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of ...

(

OVRA The OVRA, whose most probable name was Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism ( it, Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1927 under the ...

) which was a pervasive national security agency that operated at all levels of Italian society. Bocchini only reported directly to 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 192 ...

and operated autonomously without interference from 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. Th ...

and the state prefects. His power within the government led to him being called the "Vice Duce".

Early life

Bocchini was the last of the seven children born in San Giorgio La Montagna, near Benevento to Ciriaco Bocchini, a wealthy landowner, and his mother was Concetta Padiglione, a member of the

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word' ...

but

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Padiglione family. After Bocchini graduated with a

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

degree from the

Federico II University 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 ...

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 1902, he joined the prefectural civil service. After Mussolini took power in 1922, Bocchini was appointed by Deputy Minister

Aldo Finzi Aldo Finzi may refer to: * Aldo Finzi (composer) (1897–1945), Italian classical music composer *Aldo Finzi (politician) Aldo Finzi (Legnago, 20 April 1891 – Rome, 24 March 1944) was a Jewish-Italian politician and soldier. Finzi started out ...

as the

Prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

(1922–1923), then

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, 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 1 ...

(1923–1925), and finally

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

(1925–1926).

National Chief of Police

In 1926 Mussolini, on the advice of Luigi Federzoni (who knew him from Bologna), made Bocchini Rome's Chief of Police and de facto head of all civil law enforcement in Fascist Italy. Bocchini had control over the regular

Polizia di Stato The ''Polizia di Stato'' (State Police or P.S.) is one of the national police forces of Italy. Alongside the Carabinieri, it is the main police force for providing police duties, primarily to cities and large towns, and with its child agencie ...

and the

, the political police of the

. Despite his political attempts, the

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

, the national Gendarmerie of Italy, remained under the control of the Royal Italian Army. Mussolini entrusted him with the job of maintaining order in Italy. To achieve this, Bocchini was granted maximum political coverage and complete freedom of action, as well as the privilege of reporting directly to Mussolini. Bundesarchiv Bild 121-0208, Berlin, italienische Polizeiführer, Sport

Bundesarchiv Bild 121-0208, Berlin, italienische Polizeiführer, Sport

As Rome's Chief of Police, Bocchini oversaw the arrest and brutal treatment of many prominent anti-fascists, such as Antonio Gramsci, who died in April 1937, aged 45. His position of power within the fascist regime was strengthened by his close relationship with his German counterpart

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-servi ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

. In two official visits, to Germany in 1936 and in 1938 to Italy, Bocchini and Himmler met to coordinate how the OVRA and the Nazis'

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

and

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

could work internationally to share and gather intelligence and arrest political/ideological enemies.

Death

Bundesarchiv Bild 121-2051, Rom, Beisetzung italienischer Polizeichef Bocchini

Bocchini died of a stroke in Rome in November 1940. His funeral was attended by notable leaders from Nazi Germany's police and security agencies such as Reichsführer-SS

, SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Wolff, and chief of the RSHA, SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Polizei

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bocchini, Arturo 1880 births 1940 deaths People from the Province of Benevento Italian fascists Polizia di Stato