Giacomo Matteotti (; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...

alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence they used to gain votes. Eleven days later he was kidnapped and killed by Fascists.

Political career

Matteotti was born into a wealthy family, in

Fratta Polesine Fratta Polesine is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about southwest of Rovigo. Its main attraction is Andrea Palladio's Villa Badoer. Fratta Polesine is th ...

Province of Rovigo The Province of Rovigo (''Provincia di Rovigo'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Rovigo. It borders on the north with the provinces of Verona, Padua and Venice, on the south with the province of Ferrara, o ...

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

. He graduated in law at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...

. An atheist and from early on an activist in the socialist movement and the

Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Socialism, socialist and later Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the l ...

, he opposed Italy's entry into

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 ...

(and was

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

during the conflict for this reason). He was elected deputy three times: in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

, 1921 and 1924. As a follower of

Filippo Turati Filippo Turati (; 26 November 1857 – 29 March 1932) was an Italian sociologist, criminologist, poet and socialist politician. Early life Born in Canzo, province of Como, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 1877, and participa ...

, Matteotti became the leader of the reformist Unitary Socialist Party in 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 ...

after a split from the more radical

Opposition to Fascism

Matteotti openly spoke out against

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

and Benito Mussolini, and for a time was leader of the opposition to 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 ...

(NFP). From 1921 he denounced fascist violence in a pamphlet titled ''Inchiesta socialista sulle gesta dei fascisti in Italia'' (''Socialist enquiry on the deeds of the fascists in Italy''). In 1924 his book ''The Fascisti Exposed: A Year of Fascist Domination'' was published and he made two impassioned and lengthy speeches in the Chamber of Deputies denouncing Fascism and declaring that the last election, marked by intimidation and militia violence, was "invalid". In the speech Matteotti gave on 30 May 1924 in Parliament, he strongly contested the violence,said "In Naples in one conference that the head of the constitutional opposition was to hold, he was prevented due to the mobilization of the armed corps, which intervened in the city", as a fraud in the 1924 elections (however won by PNF thanks to the

Acerbo Law The Acerbo Law was an Italian electoral law proposed by Baron Giacomo Acerbo and passed by the Italian Parliament in November 1923. The purpose of it was to give Mussolini's fascist party a majority of deputies. The law was used only in the 19 ...

, which put in place an electoral system that guaranteed a majority to the Fascists). According to some theories, this speech was not the only cause of his murder. In fact, according to

Renzo De Felice Renzo De Felice (8 April 1929 – 25 May 1996) was an Italian historian, who specialized in the Fascist era, writing, among other works, a 6000-page biography of Mussolini (4 volumes, 1965–1997). He argued that Mussolini was a revolutionary m ...

's essay ''Breve Storia del Fascismo'', Matteotti publicly condemned the alliance of the socialist trade unions and the fascist counterpart. Moreover, he found out evidence of bribes from

Sinclair Oil Sinclair Oil Corporation was an American petroleum corporation, founded by Harry F. Sinclair on May 1, 1916, the Sinclair Oil and Refining Corporation combined, amalgamated, the assets of 11 small petroleum companies. Originally a New York cor ...

in favour of Mussolini, in order to get permission for Sinclair's exploitation of petroleum reservoirs under Italian control.

Murder

On 10 June 1924 Matteotti was bundled into a

Lancia Lambda The Lancia Lambda is an innovative automobile produced from 1922 through 1931. It was the first car to feature a load-bearing unitary body, (but without a stressed roof) and it also pioneered the use of an independent suspension (the front slidi ...

and stabbed several times with a carpenter's file as he was struggling to escape. His corpse was found after an extensive search near Riano, 23 kilometers north of Rome, on 16 August 1924. Five men ( Amerigo Dumini — a prominent member of the Fascist secret police, the '' Ceka'' — Giuseppe Viola, Albino Volpi, Augusto Malacria and Amleto Poveromo) were arrested a few days after the kidnapping. Another suspect, Filippo Panzeri, fled from arrest.

Consequences of the murder

The death of Matteotti sparked widespread criticism of Fascism. A general strike was threatened in retaliation, but the opposition preferred to raise a "moral question" that would point to public disapproval in fascism, to bring about its downfall. Then "Fascism fielded an articulated series of misdirections, obstructions of justice and

red herrings A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question. Red herring may also refer to: Animals * Red herring (fis ...

, to declare the moral question closed". Since Mussolini's government did not collapse and the King refused to dismiss him, all the anti-fascists (except for the

Communist Party of Italy The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI). ...

) started to abandon the Chamber of Deputies. They retired on the "Aventine Mount", like ancient Roman plebeians. They thought to force the Crown to act against Mussolini, but on the contrary this strengthened Mussolini, who tried to defuse the tension with a speech in Montecitorio on 13 June 1924. After a few weeks of confusion, Mussolini gained a favourable vote by the Senate of the Kingdom. Despite pressure from the opposition, Victor Emmanuel III refused to dismiss Mussolini, since the Government was supported by a large majority of the Chamber of Deputies and almost all the Senate of the Kingdom. Moreover, he feared that compelling Mussolini to resign could be considered a ''coup d'état'', that eventually could lead to a civil war between the Army and the Blackshirts. But during the summer, the trial against Matteotti's alleged murderers and the discovery of the corpse of Matteotti once again spread rage against Mussolini: newspapers launched fierce attacks against him and the fascist movement. On 13 September, a right-wing fascist deputy, Armando Casalini, was killed on a tramway in retaliation for Matteotti's murder by the anti-fascist Giovanni Corvi. During the autumn of 1924, the extremist wing of the Fascist Party threatened Mussolini with a coup, and dealt with him on the night of San Silvestro of 1924. Mussolini devised a counter-maneuver, and on 3 January 1925 he gave a famous speech both attacking anti-fascists and confirming that he, and only he, was the leader of Fascism. He challenged the anti-fascists to prosecute him, and claimed proudly that Fascism was the "superb passion of the best youth of Italy" and grimly that "all the violence" was his responsibility, because he had created the climate of violence. Admitting that the murderers were Fascists of "high station", as Hitler later did after the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...

, Mussolini rhetorically claimed fault, stating "I assume, I alone, the political, moral, historical responsibility for everything that has happened. If sentences, more or less maimed, are enough to hang a man, out with the noose!" Mussolini concluded with a warning: Italy needs stability and Fascism would assure stability to Italy in any manner necessary. This speech is considered the very beginning of the

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship a ...

in Italy.

Trials against his murderers

Only three men (Dumini, Volpi and Poveromo) were convicted and shortly after released under amnesty by King

Victor Emmanuel III The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

. Before the trial against the murderers, the High Court of the Senate started a trial against general

Emilio De Bono Emilio De Bono (19 March 1866 – 11 January 1944) was an Italian general, fascist activist, marshal, and member of the Fascist Grand Council (''Gran Consiglio del Fascismo''). De Bono fought in the Italo-Turkish War, the First World War and t ...

, commander of the Fascist paramilitary

Blackshirts The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Nation ...

(MVSN), but he was discharged. After the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, in 1947, the trial against

Francesco Giunta Francesco Giunta (21 March 1887 – 8 June 1971) was an Italian Fascist politician. A leading figure in the early years of fascism, he helped to build the movement in several regions of the country and was particularly active in Trieste. Duri ...

, Cesare Rossi, Dumini, Viola, Poveromo, Malacria, Filippelli and Panzeri was re-opened. Dumini, Viola and Poveromo were sentenced to life imprisonment. In none of these three trials was evidence declared of Mussolini's involvement, due to trial extinction for death of defendant.

Mussolini's alleged involvement

The involvement of Mussolini in the assassination is much debated. Historians suggest some different theories. The main biographer of Mussolini,

, was convinced that the Duce was not innocent. Even Aurelio Lepre and

Emilio Gentile Emilio Gentile (born 1946, in Bojano) is an Italian historian and professor, specializing in the history, ideology, and culture of Italian fascism. Gentile is considered one of Italy's foremost cultural historians of the Italian Fascist regim ...

thought that Mussolini wanted the death of Matteotti. The former socialist and anti-fascist journalist Carlo Silvestri in 1924 was a harsh accuser of Mussolini; later, when he joined the Italian Social Republic, he affirmed that Mussolini had shown him the papers for the Matteotti case, and eventually he changed his mind. Silvestri became a strong defender of Mussolini's innocence in Matteotti's murder, and suggested that the socialist was killed by a plot, in order both to damage Mussolini's attempt to raise a leftist government (with the participation of Socialists and ''Popolari'') and to cover some scandals in which the Crown (with the American oil company

) was involved. De Felice argued that maybe Mussolini himself was a political victim of a plot, and almost surely he was damaged by the crisis that followed the murder. Many fascists left the Party, and his government was about to collapse. Moreover, his secret attempt to bring Socialists and ''Popolari'' into a new reformist government was ruined.

John Gunther John Gunther (August 30, 1901 – May 29, 1970) was an American journalist and writer. His success came primarily by a series of popular sociopolitical works, known as the "Inside" books (1936–1972), including the best-selling ''Insid ...

wrote in 1940 that "Most critics nowadays do not think that the Duce directly ordered the assassination ... but his moral responsibility is indisputable", perhaps with underlings believing they were carrying out Mussolini's desire performing the kidnapping and murder on their own. Other historians, including

Justin Pollard Justin David Pollard (born 30 January 1968) is a British historian, television producer, writer and entrepreneur. He is best known for his work on such films as '' Elizabeth'' and ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' and TV series including ''Vikings'' ...

and

Denis Mack Smith Denis Mack Smith CBE FBA FRSL (3 March 1920 – 11 July 2017) was an English historian who specialized in the history of Italy from the Risorgimento onwards. He is best known for his biographies of Garibaldi, Cavour and Mussolini, and for hi ...

, thought Mussolini was probably aware of the assassination plot but that it was ordered and organized by someone else.

Mauro Canali Mauro Canali is a full professor of contemporary history at the University of Camerino in Italy. He is considered to be one of the most important scholars of the events leading to the crisis of the liberal Italian state and the rise of fascism. He ...

suggests that Mussolini probably did order the murder, as Matteotti uncovered and wanted to make public incriminating documents proving that Mussolini and his associates sold to Sinclair Oil exclusive rights to all Italian

oil reserves An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

Family

In 1912 he had met Velia Titta, younger sister of the famous baritone Ruffo Titta, and they married in a civil ceremony in 1916. They had three children: Giancarlo (1918-2006), Matteo (1921-2000) and Isabella (1922-1994).((https://www.casamuseogiacomomatteotti.it/biografia-en/)) One of Matteotti's sons, Gianmatteo Matteotti (known Matteo), became a Social Democratic parliamentary deputy after

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 opposing ...

, serving as Italy's minister of tourism in 1970–72 and minister of foreign trade from 1972–1974, and died in 2000.

Works

* 1924 ''The Fascisti Exposed: A Year of Fascist Domination'', , (1969)

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Luigi Cyaheled, ''Matteotti è vivente'', Napoli, Casa Editrice Vedova Ceccoli & Figli, 1924. * Carlo Silvestri, ''Matteotti, Mussolini e il dramma italiano'', Roma, Ruffolo, 1947. *

, ''Mussolini il fascista'', I, ''La conquista del potere. 1921–1925'', Torino, Einaudi, 1966. * Carlo Rossini, ''Il delitto Matteotti fra il Viminale e l’Aventino'', Bologna, Il Mulino, 1968. * Antonio G. Casanova, ''Matteotti. Una vita per il socialismo'', Milano, Bompiani, 1974. * Adrian Lyttelton, ''La conquista del potere. Il fascismo dal 1919 al 1929'', Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1974. * Ives Bizzi, ''Da Matteotti a Villamarzana. 30 anni di lotte nel Polesine (1915–1945)'', Treviso, Giacobino, 1975. * Carlo Silvestri, ''Matteotti, Mussolini e il dramma italiano'', Milano, Cavallotti editore, 1981. * Alexander J. De Grand, ''Breve storia del fascismo'', Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1983. * Matteo Matteotti, ''Quei vent’anni. Dal fascismo all’Italia che cambia'', Milano, Rusconi, 1985. * Fabio Andriola, ''Mussolini. Prassi politica e rivoluzione sociale'', S.l., F.U.A.N., 1990. *

, ''Il delitto Matteotti. Affarismo e politica nel primo governo Mussolini'', Camerino, Università degli studi, 1996; Bologna, Il Mulino, 1997, 2004, 2015. ; 2004. * Valentino Zaghi, ''Giacomo Matteotti'', Sommacampagna, Cierre, 2001. * Marcello Staglieno, ''Arnaldo e Benito. Due fratelli'', Milano, Mondadori, 2003. *

, ''Il delitto Matteotti'', Bologna, Il Mulino, 2004. * Nunzio Dell'Erba, ''Matteotti: azione politica e pensiero giuridico'', in "Patria indipendente", 28 maggio 2004, a. LIII, nn. 4–5, pp. 21–23. * Stanislao G. Pugliese, ''Fascism, Anti-fascism, and the Resistance in Italy: 1919 to the Present'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. * Enrico Tiozzo, ''La giacca di Matteotti e il processo Pallavicini. Una rilettura critica del delitto'', Roma, Aracne, 2005. * Gianpaolo Romanato, ''Un italiano diverso. Giacomo Matteotti'', Milano, Longanesi, 2010. * Giovanni Borgognone, ''Come nasce una dittatura. L'Italia del delitto Matteotti'', Bari, Laterza, 2012. * Alexander J. De Grand, ''Italian Fascism: Its Origins & Development'', University of Nebraska Press, 2000, * Adrian Lyttelton, ''The Seizure of Power: Fascism in Italy, 1919–1929'', Routledge, 2003, * Stanislao G. Pugliese, ''Fascism, Anti-fascism, and the Resistance in Italy: 1919 to the Present'', Rowman & Littlefield, 2004,

External links

*
What a Murder by Mussolini Teaches Us About Khashoggi and M.B.S.
By

Alexander Stille Alexander Stille (born 1 January 1957 in New York City) is an American author and journalist. He is the son of Ugo Stille, a well-known Italian journalist and a former editor of Italy's Milan-based Corriere della Sera newspaper. Alexander Stille g ...

, Oct. 23, 2018,

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matteotti, Giacomo 1885 births 1924 deaths People from the Province of Rovigo Italian Socialist Party politicians Unitary Socialist Party (Italy, 1922) politicians Deputies of Legislature XXV of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXVI of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXVII of the Kingdom of Italy Politicians of Veneto Italian anti-fascists Italian anti-capitalists Italian atheists Kidnapped Italian people Assassinated Italian politicians Deaths by stabbing in Rome People murdered in Italy 1924 murders in Italy