Alberto Beneduce (cropped)
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Alberto Beneduce (29 May 1877 – 26 April 1944) was an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
politician, scholar and financier, who was among the founders of many significant state-run finance institutions in Italy.


Early life and education

Beneduce was born in
Caserta Caserta ( ; ) is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. An important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city, Caserta is located 36 kilometres north of Naples on the edge of the Campanian p ...
on 29 March 1877. He earned a mathematics degree from the
University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...
.


Career and views

Beneduce was a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
and was a leading member of the
Italian Reformist Socialist Party The Italian Reformist Socialist Party (, PSRI) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. History It was formed in 1912 by those leading reformist socialists who had been expelled from the Italian Socialist Party because of their desire ...
. He was elected to the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
in 1919 and 1921 representing the party from his hometown Caserta. Beneduce managed to connect with high finance figures and to collaborate with the Italy's
fascist regime 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 social hie ...
. He worked in different capacities, including statistician, teacher, demographer, agricultural and insurance specialist. He was a university professor of statistics and demography until 1919. He contributed to the establishment of the national institution of insurance (INA), which was founded in 1912. He also headed the INA from 1912 to 1919. During
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he was asked to established an institution that would help the veterans in finding jobs. As a result, he involved in founding the related body, Opera Nazionale Combattenti (ONC). In the period between 4 July 1921 and 26 February 1922 Beneduce served as the minister of labor and social security in the
cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...
led by
Ivanoe Bonomi Ivanoe Bonomi (; 18 October 1873 – 20 April 1951) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1921 to 1922 and again from 1944 to 1945. Background and earlier career Ivanoe Bonomi was born in Mant ...
. Beneduce was appointed head of two state-run credit bodies: Consorzio di Credito per le Opere Pubbliche (
Crediop Dexia Crediop S.p.A. was an Italian bank specializing in financing public infrastructure which was part of Dexia Group, and disappeared in 2023 in the context of Dexia's orderly resolution plan. History Consorzio di Credito per le Opere Pubbliche ...
) in 1919 and Istituto di Credito per le Imprese di Pubblica Utilità (ICIPU) in 1924. Until 1939 he headed both institutions. These institutions were later merged under the name of Istituto per il Credito Navale. In 1931, he was named as a board member of the
Istituto Mobiliare Italiano The Istituto Mobiliare Italiano (IMI, ) was a public financial institution in Italy based in Rome, founded in 1931, privatized in the 1990s and eventually acquired in 1998 by Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino. Its name survives in Banca IMI, t ...
. He also served as an economic advisor to
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 ...
. In 1933, he was appointed by Mussolini as the head of the
institute for industrial reconstruction The Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI; English: "Institute for Industrial Reconstruction") was an Italian public holding company established in 1933 by the Fascist regime to rescue, restructure and finance banks and private compani ...
(IRI), being the first president of the body. In 1936 Beneduce was simultaneously president of IRI, of the public credit institutions Crediop and ICIPU, of the Institute for Naval Credit, and a member of the Board of Directors of IMI and of the National Foreign Exchange Institute while in the private sector he was president of the Italian Society for Southern Railways. He served in the post until 1939 when he became a senator in 1939, but he retired from politics and other public offices due to his health problems in 1940. However, Beneduce retained his membership on the boards of various companies until his death. He was an advocate of a company management approach based on the private-sector criteria and free from political influences. Beneduce was also a director of the leading companies, including
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...
,
Pirelli Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is an Italian multinational tyre manufacturer based in the city of Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 1922, is the 5th-largest tyre manufacturer, and is focused on the consumer pro ...
, Montecatini, Edison and Generali.


Activities

Beneduce and Luigi Rossi recorded detailed statistics about Italian citizens, who had migrated to the US, but returned to Italy between 1905 and 1906. Beneduce was instrumental in the nationalization of life insurance in Italy. His activities in the finance sector of Italy shaped the industrial development of the country between the 1920s and the 1990s. One of his significant activities in this regard was the reorganization of the bankrupted Italian banking system. In addition, he was the mentor of many eminent financiers and technocrats, who reconstructed Italy after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. He also developed Mussolini's deflation policy.


Personal life and death

Beneduce had five children, three of whom were given names that reflected his socialist orientation: Idea Nuova Socialista, Italia Libera and Vittoria Proletaria. His two other children were Ernesto and Anna. One of his daughters, Idea, married
Enrico Cuccia Enrico Cuccia (24 November 1907 – 23 June 2000) was an Italian banker, who was the first and long-term president of Mediobanca SpA, the Milan-based investment bank, and a significant figure in the history of capitalism in Italy. Early lif ...
, a significant financier. Beneduce died in Rome on 26 April 1944.


Awards

Beneduce was awarded the Grand Officer of the
Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...
on 16 November 1918 and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Crown of Italy on 5 January 1922.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beneduce, Alberto 20th-century Italian economists 20th-century Italian mathematicians 1877 births 1944 deaths Ministers of labour of Italy Italian Reformist Socialist Party politicians Italian statisticians Leaders of organizations Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy People from Caserta University of Naples Federico II alumni Deputies of Legislature XXV of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXVI of the Kingdom of Italy Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy) Giornale degli economisti e annali di economia editors