Alessandro Pavolini (27 September 1903 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician, journalist, and essayist, notable for his involvement in the

Fascist 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 and the ...

government, during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and also for his cruelty against the opponents of

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 and t ...

Early life and career

A native of

Florence 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 ...

, Pavolini was the son of Paolo Emilio Pavolini, a major scholar of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

and other

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. A brilliant student, he earned a law degree at the University of Florence and a

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

degree at ''

La Sapienza The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

'' in Rome, travelling to and from between the two cities. His brother was the writer Corrado Pavolini. After joining

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 ...

's movement in Florence, he took part in several actions of the Blackshirts, and led a squad during the 1922

March on Rome The March on Rome ( it, Marcia su Roma) was an organized mass demonstration and a coup d'état in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 192 ...

– the moment when Fascism took over in Italy. Pavolini was assigned tasks in the cultural field (including youth programs launched by the fascists), while contributing to fascist publications such as ''Battaglie fasciste'', ''Rivoluzione fascista'', and ''Critica fascista''. Thanks to his acquaintance with Florentine fascist leader Luigi Ridolfi, he broke into active politics, becoming Ridolfi's deputy in 1927. From 1929 to 1934, he was local leader of 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. The ...

(PNF) in Florence, as well as editor of the fascist publication ''Il Bargello'' (named after a military rank of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

), which urged all intellectuals to contribute; Pavolini aimed for an image of Fascism as cultural and aristocratic – he initiated a series of cultural events that survived both Fascism and his death, including the yearly costumed re-enactment of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

-era sport ''

Calcio Fiorentino ''Calcio Fiorentino'' (also known as ''calcio storico'' "historic football") is an early form of football ( soccer and rugby) that originated during the Middle Ages in Italy. Once widely played, the sport is thought to have started in the ''Pi ...

'', the ''

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino The Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (English: Florence Musical May) is an annual Italian arts festival in Florence, including a notable opera festival, under the auspices of the Opera di Firenze. The festival occurs between late April into June annual ...

'' music festival and the

Ponte Vecchio The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge", ) is a medieval stone closed- spandrel segmental arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy. The only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during the Second World War, it is noted for the shops ...

Artisans' Exhibit. Between 1934 and 1942, he was a regular contributor to ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of I ...

'' as a "special guest".

Prominence

After becoming a member of the national PNF leadership in 1932, he moved on from local politics to become the president of the Fascist Confederation of Professionals and Artists, which propelled him to a leadership position in the Council of

Corporations A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

. He took part in the

Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Ita ...

as a lieutenant inspecting the squadron led by Galeazzo Ciano (a group nicknamed '' La Disperata''), and as a correspondent for ''

''. Throughout his political career, Pavolini published cultural and literary essays, such as ''Disperata'' ("The Desperate"; 1937) and ''Scomparsa d'Angela'' ("Angela's Disappearance"; 1940). In 1939, he was appointed by Mussolini Minister of Popular Culture, and served until January 1943. Minister of Popular Culture (Minculpop in short) meant in fact Ministry of Propaganda and Pavolini had an iron grip on what the press could or could not publish. The written instructions to the press (including

radio broadcasts Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...

and " Luce" cinema newsreels) were dubbed '' veline'' (tissue paper) by the newsmen and covered an amazing variety of domains (from forbidding to publish photos of boxer

Primo Carnera Primo may refer to: People *DJ Premier (born 1966), hip-hop producer, sometimes goes by nickname Primo *Primo Carnera (1906–1967), Italian boxer, World Heavyweight champion 1933–1934 * Primo Cassarino (born 1956), enforcer for the Gambino cr ...

knocked out and lying unconscious to the obligation of publishing flattering propaganda photos of Mussolini on a brand new Fiat tractor or forbidding to publish photos of Naples under the snow, fearing it would damage the tourism industry). Minculpop also tackled the cinema industry (the famous and very creative Cinecitta studios in Rome were created by Mussolini's will to act as a counter against Hollywood productions; the Venice film festival is also a creation of the fascist period). Pavolini was deeply involved in the cinema industry (either on the propaganda or on the entertainment sides of it) and famously had a much publicized affair with

Doris Duranti Doris Duranti (25 April 1917 – 10 March 1995) was an Italian film actress. She appeared in 43 films between 1935 and 1975. She had a years-long affair with Alessandro Pavolini, a Fascist politician who in 1945 was executed by Italian parti ...

, a film actress of the period who starred in the '' Telefoni Bianchi'' subgenre of light comedy films and prominently featured in the very first bare-bosomed scene in Italian cinema. The

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis powers ( Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany). It b ...

and the ousting of Mussolini in Rome brought

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

intervention and the proclamation of a new fascist puppet state, the northern

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...

. Pavolini was integrated into the Republic's administration under Mussolini, and was immediately promoted head of the successor of the PNF, the Republican Fascist Party (PFR) (the only person to occupy that post); he took part in the drafting of major documents, including the Verona

manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...

that called for the execution of former Grand Council of Fascism members who had voted against Mussolini in April, and was behind the creation of the

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

Black Brigades The ''Corpo Ausiliario delle Squadre d'azione di Camicie Nere'' (Italian: Auxiliary Corps of the Black Shirts' Action Squads), most widely known as the Black Brigades ( it, Brigate Nere), was one of the Fascist paramilitary groups, organized a ...

Capture and death

Mussolini e Petacci a Piazzale Loreto, 1945

Pavolini was captured after a desperate escape attempt which saw him swimming across

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

and then trapped in a

Mexican standoff A Mexican standoff is a confrontation in which no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory. Any party initiating aggression might trigger its own demise. At the same time, the parties are unable to extricate themselves from the si ...

over a half submerged rock. When Pavolini ran out of bullets, he was finally apprehended and executed by the partisans in Dongo. Before burial, his body was hung upside down in public, along with Mussolini, Mussolini's mistress

Clara Petacci Clara Petacci, known as Claretta Petacci (; 28 February 1912 – 28 April 1945), was a mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. She was killed during Mussolini's execution by Italian partisans. Early life Daughter of Giuseppina Persic ...

, the former Party Secretary

Achille Starace Achille Starace (; 18 August 1889 – 29 April 1945) was a prominent leader of Fascist Italy before and during World War II. Early life and career Starace was born in Sannicola, province of Lecce, in southern Apulia. His father was a wine and ...

, Nicola Bombacci and others in Piazzale Loreto, Milan.

References

External links

Italian Government
2009-10-25) at www.geocities.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pavolini, Alessandro 1903 births 1945 deaths Politicians from Florence Members of the Grand Council of Fascism Culture ministers of Italy Mussolini Cabinet Deputies of Legislature XXIX of the Kingdom of Italy Members of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations People of the Italian Social Republic Italian essayists Male essayists Italian male writers Journalists from Florence Italian male journalists 20th-century Italian lawyers 20th-century essayists Italian military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Executed politicians Executed Italian people People executed by Italy by firing squad 20th-century executions by Italy 20th-century Italian journalists Italian male non-fiction writers