Alessandro Mussolini (11 November 1854 – 19 November 1910) was the father of Italian Fascist founder and leader

Benito 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 his deposition in ...

, the father of Arnaldo and

Edvige Mussolini Edvige Mussolini (; Predappio, 10 November 1888 - Rome, 20 May 1952) was the younger sister of Arnaldo and Benito Mussolini. Biography Edvige was the daughter of Alessandro Mussolini, a blacksmith and activist, first anarchist and later sociali ...

, the father-in-law of

Rachele Mussolini Rachele Guidi (11 April 1890 – 30 October 1979), also known (particularly in Italy) as Donna Rachele (Italian for "Lady Rachael") and incorrectly as Rachele Mussolini in the English-speaking world, was the second wife of Italian dictator and ...

, and the paternal grandfather of Edda Mussolini,

Romano Mussolini Romano Bruno Mussolini (26 September 1927 – 3 February 2006) was an Italian jazz pianist, painter, and film producer. He was the fourth child and youngest son of Benito Mussolini. Early life and education Romano Mussolini was native of Vi ...

, Vittorio Mussolini and Bruno Mussolini. He was an Italian revolutionary socialist activist with

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

sympathies.Gregor, Anthony James. ''Young Mussolini and the intellectual origins of fascism''. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, US; London, England, UK: University of California Press, 1979. Pp. 29 Mussolini was a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

by profession.Roberts, Jeremy. ''Benito Mussolini''. A & E; Twenty-First Century Books, 2006. Pp. 10. He was married to

Rosa Maltoni Rosa Maltoni (married Mussolini; 22 April 1858 – 19 February 1905) was the mother of Italian Fascist founder and leader Benito Mussolini, the mother of Arnaldo and Edvige Mussolini, the mother-in-law of Rachele Mussolini and the paternal grand ...

, a schoolteacher, who became the mother of Benito Mussolini, and exercised considerable influence over his son Benito's early political beliefs, even naming his son Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini after three leaders he admired:

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec, he was the first indigenous pre ...

Amilcare Cipriani Amilcare Cipriani (October 18, 1844 in Anzio – April 30, 1918 in Paris)Andrea Costa Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that r ...

Personal life

On 25 January 1882, Mussolini married

, a schoolteacher and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

.Haugen, Brenda. ''Benito Mussolini: Fascist Italian Dictator''. Minneapolis, Minnesota, US: Compass Point Books, 2007. Pp. 15. Unlike his wife, Mussolini did not believe in God and hated the Roman Catholic Church.Haugen, Brenda. ''Benito Mussolini: Fascist Italian Dictator''. Minneapolis, Minnesota, US: Compass Point Books, 2007. Pp. 16. Maltoni's father looked down upon her decision to marry Mussolini and did not approve of the marriage. In 1883, Maltoni gave birth to their first son,

. Benito helped his father at the forge where Alessandro Mussolini worked as a blacksmith. Mussolini and his son Benito were close. He taught his son about revolutionary leaders he admired such as

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 ...

. Mussolini experienced a number of personal troubles; he had difficulty in finding employment and became an

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

Political activism and views

Mussolini entered politics in 1873 at the age of nineteen as a revolutionary socialist militant. In 1874, Mussolini took part in political disturbances in

Predappio Predappio (; rgn, La Pré or ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Forlì-Cesena, in the region of Emilia-Romagna in Italy, with a population of 6,135 as of 1 January 2021. The town is best known for being the birthplace of Benito Mus ...

, Italy. Mussolini became a member of local government and was known by authorities for controversy and political violence against opponents. Mussolini was ill-tempered towards his opponents and in 1878, police warned Mussolini to cease threatening his opponents with the destruction of their property. He was arrested in 1878 on the suspicion of taking part in revolutionary activities and remained under house arrest until authorities released him in 1882 so that he could attend his marriage to Rosa Maltoni. Mussolini believed that the government should control the

mode of production In the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production (German: ''Produktionsweise'', "the way of producing") is a specific combination of the: * Productive forces: these include human labour power and means of production (tools, ...

, that working conditions needed to be improved, and supported the creation of a society run by the working-class. Mussolini held Italian nationalist sentiments and idolized Italian nationalist figures with socialist or

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

tendencies such as

Carlo Pisacane Carlo Pisacane, Duke of San Giovanni (22 August 1818 – 2 July 1857) was an Italian patriot and one of the first Italian socialist thinkers. He argued that violence was necessary not only to draw attention to, or generate publicity for, a c ...

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...

and

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pa ...

. Alessandro Mussolini's political outlook combined the views of

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

figures like

Carlo Cafiero Carlo Cafiero (1846–1892) was an Italian anarchist, champion of Mikhail Bakunin during the second half of the 19th century and one of the main proponents of anarcho-communism and insurrectionary anarchism during the First International T ...

and

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary s ...

, the military authoritarianism of Garibaldi, and the nationalism of Mazzini.Gregor, Anthony James. ''Young Mussolini and the intellectual origins of fascism''. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California, US; London, England, UK: University of California Press, 1979. Pp. 31.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mussolini, Alessandro Italian socialists 1854 births 1910 deaths Italian atheists Italian blacksmiths

Alessandro Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...