Amerigo Dumini (January 3, 1894 – December 25, 1967) was an American-born

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

fascist hitman who led the group responsible for the 1924 assassination of Unitary Socialist Party leader

Giacomo Matteotti Giacomo Matteotti (; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence ...

Biography

Born in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, United States, the son of Italian and British immigrants, Amerigo Dumini moved to Italy and in 1913 he joined the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

renouncing his U.S. citizenship. During the

First World War 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 ...

he was an assault trooper and was severely wounded and decorated. Then he became active in the

Fascio Fascio (; plural ''fasci'') is an Italian word literally meaning "a bundle" or "a sheaf", and figuratively "league", and which was used in the late 19th century to refer to political groups of many different (and sometimes opposing) orientations ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

organized by supporters of Benito Mussolini, taking pride in being referred to as "Sicario del Duce" ("

Il 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 ...

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...

"). He participated in the Sarzana incident it.html" ;"title=":it:Fatti_di_Sarzana.html" ;"title="nowiki/>:it:Fatti_di_Sarzana">it">:it:Fatti_di_Sarzana.html" ;"title="nowiki/>:it:Fatti_di_Sarzana">iton 21 July 1921, leading a column of 300 "squadristi" (Blackshirts) to Sarzana with demands for the liberation of Renato Ricci. Ricci and other fascists had been arrested following armed confrontation with the ''Arditi del Popolo'', an antifascist organization created in 1921 by the anarchist Argo Secondari as an offshoot of the " Arditi" movement. In 1924 Dumini entered the ranks of Ceka, 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 ...

which Mussolini based on the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Cheka. Shortly thereafter, on 10 June, he headed the group (Albino Volpi, Giuseppe Viola, Augusto Malacria and Amleto Poveromo) that carried out the killing of

, possibly on the orders of Cesare Rossi, to whom he was assistant at the time. Following the political murder, he was abandoned by the fascist leadership, with the exception of

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 histo ...

, who defended him during his trial. While Farinacci declared himself "honored" by the task, he could not prevent Dumini from receiving a five-year prison sentence, of which he only served eleven months, benefiting from an

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

ordered by Mussolini. Once out of jail, he tried his hand at blackmailing the fascist leadership, trying to obtain rewards and the payment of his legal fees. Ostentatiously, he sought a meeting with Mussolini at the Italian Council of Ministers. He justified his entitlement with the words "I am here in order to wash Matteotti's blood off my hands". Arrested, he was put on trial for "offending Il Duce" and sentenced to eight years in prison— substantially more than for the previous crime. Freed in 1927, Amerigo Dumini left for

Italian Somaliland Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centu ...

, having been awarded a large state pension (5,000 lire). Apparently, he was still viewed as troublesome, since he was detained and interned on the Tremiti Islands. Meanwhile, he warned 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 ...

that he had filed a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

detailing Matteotti's murder with

notaries A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. This claim led to his release and an increase in pension to as much as 50,000 lire. He left for the Italian colony of

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

, where his pension was further increased by 2,500 lire (together with a single payment of 125,000 lire). Dumini remained in the region for more than a decade and was captured by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

at Derna during the North African Campaign of

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 ...

. Sentenced to death as a spy, he was hit by 17 bullets from a firing squad and still managed to remain alive, escaping to safety in

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

during the night.Artieri, Giovanni (1968). Quattro momenti di storia fascista. A. Berisio, p. 87. As Dumini returned to Italy, he was received with astonishment and offered yet another generous pension. He went into business as a transporter and bought a villa in a residential area of

. With the 1943 fall of fascism in southern Italy, he joined the German-backed Italian Social Republic. After the Allied occupation of that region, Dumini was arrested in

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 ...

and placed on trial for Matteotti's murder. He was given a

life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...

, which was immediately commuted to 30 years due to the Togliatti amnesty. He was released under a further amnesty in 1953. In 1967, Dumini accidentally electrocuted himself while changing a lightbulb in his home. He died of a heart attack in a hospital nearly three weeks later.

In popular culture

In the

Florestano Vancini Florestano Vancini (24 August 1926 – 18 September 2008) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed over 20 films since 1960. His 1966 film '' Le stagioni del nostro amore'', starring Enrico Maria Salerno, was entered into t ...

's film ''

The Assassination of Matteotti ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' (1973), Dumini is played by

Umberto Orsini Umberto Orsini (born 2 April 1934, in Novara) is an Italian stage, television and film actor. Born in Novara, Orsini gave up his career as notary to attend the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico. In the late 1950s, he emerged ...

References

External links

ITALY: So Long Ago
News article about Dumini's 1947 sentencing for the death of Giacomo Matteotti.

News about Dumini's attempted escape to Switzerland during World War II. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dumini, Amerigo 1894 births 1967 deaths American assassins American fascists People from St. Louis American people of Italian descent American emigrants to Italy American collaborators with Fascist Italy Italian assassins Italian fascists Italian people of World War II American prisoners sentenced to death American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Italian prisoners sentenced to death Italian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to death by the British military Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Italy Italian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Italy Accidental deaths in Italy Place of death missing Execution survivors American people of British descent