Domenico Leccisi (20 May 19202 November 2008) was an Italian politician, who is best known for stealing the corpse of the fascist dictator

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 ...

from an unmarked grave in 1946.Hevesi, Dennis
"Domenico Leccisi, Italian Political Figure, Dies at 88"
''

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 ...

'', November 5, 2008. Accessed November 5, 2008.

Grave robbing incident

On the eve of the first anniversary of Italy's liberation from Nazi occupying forces, Leccisi, then a right-wing journalist, and two helpers dug up the corpse from the city's Musocco cemetery and spirited it away. Leccisi left behind a note that said: "Finally, O Duce, you are with us. We will cover you with roses but the smell of your virtue will overpower those roses." Authorities discovered Mussolini's remains four months later, hidden at a 15th-century monastery at Pavia south of Milan. Two monks were charged with hiding the body. In 1957 Mussolini found a final resting place at his birthplace in Predappio, northern Italy, after a campaign led by Leccisi and his party.

Political career

Leccisi served as a parliamentary deputy for the neo-fascist

Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement ( it, Movimento Sociale Italiano, MSI) was a neo-fascist political party in Italy. A far-right party, it presented itself until the 1990s as the defender of Italian fascism's legacy, and later moved towards national ...

from 1953 to 1963. He was also a Milan city councillor and wrote an autobiography, ''With Mussolini Before and After Piazzale Loreto''.

Death

Leccisi died at age 88 on 2 November 2008 at a retirement home in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

due to heart and respiratory disease.

References

1920 births 2008 deaths People from Molfetta Italian Social Movement politicians People of the Italian Social Republic Respiratory disease deaths in Lombardy 20th-century Italian politicians {{Italy-politician-stub