Pietro Pintor (20 May 1880 – 7 December 1940) was an Italian general during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Pintor was the uncle of the antifascist journalist Giaime Pintor. During the

Italian invasion of France The Italian invasion of France (10–25 June 1940), also called the Battle of the Alps, was the first major Fascist Italy, Italian engagement of World War II and the last major engagement of the Battle of France. The Italian entry into the war ...

(11–25 June), he commanded the First Army, which was deployed along the southern sector of the Alps down to the coast. The first ten days of after Italy's declaration of war on France passed without any offensive movements by the Italians, and Pintor labelled it a "war without hostilities". On 20 June, he told Army Chief of Staff

Mario Roatta Mario Roatta (2 February 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an Italian general. After serving in World War I he rose to command the Corpo Truppe Volontarie which assisted Francisco Franco's nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. He was the d ...

that his army was "absolutely unprepared" for the offensive Prime Minister

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

had demanded by the next morning. Mussolini, in response to Pintor, modified his plans, calling for a total offensive only along the northern stretch of the Alpine front. Afterwards, he was the president of the ''

Commissione Italiana d'Armistizio con la Francia During World War II, the Commissione Italiana d'Armistizio con la Francia ("Italian Armistice Commission with France") or CIAF was a temporary civil and military body charged with implementing the Franco-Italian armistice of 24 June 1940 and harmoni ...

'' (CIAF), which oversaw the implementation of the

Franco-Italian Armistice The Franco-Italian Armistice, or Armistice of Villa Incisa, signed on 24 June 1940, in effect from 25 June, ended the brief Italian invasion of France during the Second World War. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France while the latter wa ...

, from 27 June 1940 until his death. On 28 June, Pintor chaired the first general meeting of the Armistice Commission, where he created four sub-commissions to deal with general matters and matters pertaining specifically to the army, navy and air force. Although he realised early that the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

would not capitulate to the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

, he faithfully executed Mussolini's policy with respect to France. After the removal of

Pietro Badoglio Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino ( , ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regim ...

as chief of staff of the armed forces in November, Pintor was briefly considered as his replacement, but Mussolini found him "too slow and doctrinaire" and

Roberto Farinacci Roberto Farinacci (; 16 October 1892 – 28 April 1945) was a leading Italian fascist politician and important member of the National Fascist Party before and during World War II, as well as one of its ardent antisemitic proponents. English hist ...

exclaimed that "Pintor ''is'' Badoglio—only worse". In December, shortly before his death, Pintor issued a circular confirming that military officers of the CIAF were ''ufficiali di complemento in congedo'' ("reserve officers on unlimited discharge") and permitted to wear civilian clothing. Pintor and fellow general Aldo Pellegrini died when their airplane crashed near

Acqui Terme Acqui Terme (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Alessandria, Piedmont, northern Italy. It is about south-southwest of Alessandria. It is one of the principal winemaking communes of the Italian DOCG wine Brachetto d'Acqui. The c ...

on its way from Rome to the CIAF headquarters in Turin. After his death at age sixty, the Istituto Superiore di Guerra published a twenty-five page biographical pamphlet, ''Il generale Pietro Pintor, 1880–1940: Cenni biografici'', in 1941.

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* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pintor, Pietro 1880 births 1940 deaths Italian Army generals Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Italy Italian military personnel killed in World War II Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1940