Agostino Lanzillo (31 October 1886 – 3 March 1952) was an Italian revolutionary

syndicalist Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gainin ...

leader who later became a member of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

movement.

Early life

Agostino Lanzillo was born in

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...

on 31 October 1886 to Salvatore and Giuseppina (Cosile) Lanzillo. Agostino attended primary school and secondary school in his hometown. He acquired a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Some law degrees are professional degrees that are prerequisites or serve as preparation for legal careers. These generally include the Bachelor of Civil Law, Bachelor of Laws, an ...

from the University of Rome and wrote his

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

on the socialist

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...

Political career

Revolutionary syndicalist period

Lanzillo was drawn to revolutionary syndicalism and became a follower of Georges Sorel. Lanzillo wrote: Lanzillo corresponded personally with Sorel, and published in 1910 the first biography of Sorel. Lanzillo also contributed to the syndicalist journals ''Avanguardia Socialista'' and ''Il divenire sociale''.

National syndicalist period

In 1909, Georges Sorel started collaborating with the French nationalist-monarchist movement ''

Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

'', creating

national syndicalism National syndicalism is a socially far-right adaptation of syndicalism within the broader agenda of integral nationalism. National syndicalism developed in France in the early 20th century, and then spread to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. F ...

. While many in the Italian Left attacked Sorel and reproached him for his close links with ''Action Française'', Italian revolutionary syndicalists supported Sorel. Lanzillo, for example, defended his master in a series of articles published in ''Il divenire sociale''. Later, Lanzillo wrote to the national syndicalist journal ''La lupa''. From 1912, Lanzillo published under

editorship, contributing to ''

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'', ''Utopia'' and '' Il Popolo d'Italia''.

Fascist period

Lanzillo was among the founders of the fascist movement, and was a member of

National Fascist Party The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...

. Lanzillo was a member of

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies () is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the upper house being the Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senate of the Republic. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform ...

(a house of

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

), in the 27th parliamentary session (24 May 1924 – 21 January 1929). Lanzillo was also a member of the one-party National Council of

Corporations A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

in 1931.

Academic career

In 1921 Lanzillo was a lecturer in political economy at University of Rome. In 1922 he became a professor of political economy at the Royal University of Milan and in 1923 he became a professor at the

University of Cagliari The University of Cagliari () is a public research university in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. It was founded in 1606 and is organized in 11 faculties. History The ''Studium Generalis Kalaritanum'' was founded in 1606 along the lines of the old ...

. Later, Lanzillo was appointed rector of Royal Advanced Institute of Economics and Commerce in Venice.

Writings

*''La disfatta del socialismo: Critica della guerra e del socialismo''. Florence: Libreria della Voce, 1919. *''Le Mouvement ouvrier en Italie''. Paris: Revière, n. d. 910

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanzillo, Agostino 1886 births 1952 deaths National syndicalists National Fascist Party politicians Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Academic staff of the University of Cagliari Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Kingdom of Italy) People from Reggio Calabria