Guido Romanelli (Siena, 1876 – S. Vito al Tagliamento, 1973) was an Italian army officer. At the end of 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 ...

, Colonel Guido Romanelli became chef of the Italian Military Mission to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

from May to November 1919. At this time he was the only official representative of the Entente in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and he intervened forcefully against the reprisals of the revolutionary government of

Béla Kun Béla Kun (born Béla Kohn; 20 February 1886 – 29 August 1938) was a Hungarian communist revolutionary and politician who governed the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919. After attending Franz Joseph University at Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napo ...

, intervening to save the lives of cadets of the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

academy of Ludovika who rebelled against the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

regime. His activities brought him the recognition and devotion of the Hungarian people. Following advance of the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n forces toward the Hungarian capital, Romanelli guaranteed and managed the escape from the country of some of the major leaders of the regime and their families, acting as mediator between the foreign occupying forces and the new Government after the occupation of Budapest. For his activities, in 1922 he was awarded with the Hungarian Decoration of the Sword of Honour. In subsequent years, Romanelli served as Consul of Italy in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and President of the Italian-Hungarian Commercial Bank.

Bibliography

*Guido Romanelli, Nell'Ungheria di Béla Kun e durante l'occupazione romena. La mia missione. (maggio‐novembre 1919), Doretti editore, Udine 15 marzo 1964. *Guido Romanelli, Nell’Ungheria di Béla Kun e durante l’occupazione romena. La mia missione (maggio-novembre 1919), a cura di Antonello Biagini, Ufficio Storico – Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma 2002. *Viviana Stacco, "Guido Romanelli e l'Ungheria. Analisi di una missione 1919", Università degli Studi di Udine, anno accademico 2003–2004, tesi di laurea *Viviana Stacco, "Romanelli e l'Ungheria. Analisi di una missione. 1919", in "Sot la nape", Udine, ed. Società filologica Friulana, n°1-2, gennaio-febbraio 2006. *Viviana Stacco, "L'impossibile missione di Romanelli. Un ufficiale italiano nell'Ungheria della Rivoluzione", prefazione del prof. Giorgio Petracchi, Gaspari editore, Udine 2010.

External links

* https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1626436144 Guido Romanelli * https://web.archive.org/web/20120402144129/http://www.gasparieditore.it/l-impossibile-missione-di-romanelli.html Un ufficiale italiano nell’Ungheria della Rivoluzione * https://vimeo.com/ondemand/romanelliengl ''Guido Romanelli. Mission to Budapest'': a documentary by Gilberto Martinelli with English subtitles {{DEFAULTSORT:Romanelli, Guido Italian soldiers People of the Hungarian–Romanian War 1973 deaths 1876 births