HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...
Angelo Donati (3 February 1885 – 30 December 1960) was an Italian banker and philanthropist, and a diplomat of the
San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...
Republic in Paris.


Biography

Donati was born in
Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...
to a Sephardi Jewish family. Himself a Jew, he was famous for saving
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
from
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
persecution in Italian-occupied France between 1942 and 1943. He came from one of the most important families of the , whose origins go back to the second half of the 16th century, when , who lived in Finale Emilia, received from Duke Cesare d'Este the permit to introduce the planting of
buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum'') or common buckwheat is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. Buckwheat originated around the 6th millennium BCE in the region of what ...
in the
Duchy of Modena and Reggio The Duchy of Modena and Reggio (; ; ) was an Italian state created in 1452 located in Northern Italy, Northwestern Italy, in the present day region of Emilia-Romagna. It was ruled since its establishment by the noble House of Este, and from 1814 ...
. Angelo's father, Salvatore, was a merchant; among his seven brothers, was a banker, Mandolino manager of Conceria Pellami, Amedeo president of Modena Accountants, Federico a lawyer, Benvenuto a professor of law philosophy, Nino an industrialist of straw hats in Florence. Among his cousins was president of Macerata University, a world-famous surgeon, a lawyer and member of Italian Parliament for the
Italian Socialist Party The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Social democracy, social democratic and Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parti ...
and
antifascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
. Among his uncles was a banker and from 1911 to 1932 member of the executive board of
Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde, known in shorthand as Cariplo SpA, was an Italian bank founded in 1823. On 2 January 1998, it merged with Banco Ambrosiano Veneto to form Banca Intesa. Cariplo SpA became a short-lived sub-holding comp ...
, was a lawyer and president of Pio Albergo Trivulzio and the orphanage of Martinitt and Stelline from 1900 to his sudden death in 1903. His nephew Enrico Donati was an important surrealist artist, who died in New York in 2008. After graduating in law and practicing banking in Milan and Turin he left for the war in May 1915, he fought in the trenches as a captain in infantry, in 1916 he went into aviation and accomplished many war missions, he was then sent to France with linkage duties between the Italian and French armies. In 1919 he settled in Paris and became a capable manager of various companies, both in Italy and France. From 1925 to 1932 he was general Consul of the Republic of San Marino, from 1932 to 1939 he was president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Paris, a duty he had to leave for the fascist racial laws against the Jews. He was awarded the title of Grand’Ufficiale of the Italian Crown and the San Marino title of Commendatore dell’Ordine di Sant'Agata, while the French Government awarded him in 1936 the title of Commandeur of the
Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
.


Aid to the Jews, 1942-1943

In 1940 Donati left Paris before the entrance of the German troops, went to Cauterets in
Hautes-Pyrénées Hautes-Pyrénées (; Gascon/ Occitan: ''Nauts Pirenèus / Hauts Pirenèus'' awts piɾeˈnɛʊs ; alts piɾiˈneʊs ) is a department in the region of Occitania, southwestern France. The department is bordered by Pyrénées-Atlantiques to t ...
, then to
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
where he was the best man at the wedding of Piero Sacerdoti with Ilse Klein on 14 August 1940 and fled to
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one milliondepartments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Basses-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Haute-Savoie, Var and Corsica, and partially of Vaucluse and Drôme, following the allied landing operation in Algeria and Morocco. In Nice he was director of the Franco-Italian Bank. After the entrance of the Italian troops in Nice, Donati, who added to his personal prestige good relations and acquaintances in Italian military and diplomatic milieus, took charge of the future of the Jews. Every morning two members of the Committee for help to the refugees ("Committee Dubouchage") together with Rabbi Saltiel took him documents, asked for visas, and discussed with him about actions to protect the Jews in the occupied Departments. Thanks to the information received by Donati, the general consul of Italy Alberto Calisse succeeded in opposing effectively the decisions of French authorities who wanted to deport the Jews to Poland under German pressure, at the point that the "Committee Dubouchage" printed a document with the synagogue visa which the French police had to accept because authorized by the Italians. The protests of the German authorities in Rome forced
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 ...
to create a Crown Office of Racial Police in Nice, assigned to Inspector Guido Lospinoso. After arriving in Nice Lospinoso met with Donati, who explained the difficult situation and made him understand that he was the best informed person on the facts. When the
Vichy Government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...
, under German pressure, ordered to the prefect of Nice, Marcel Ribière, to arrest all the foreign Jews in
Côte d'Azur The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...
, General Avarna di Gualtieri, who represented the supreme Italian command in Vichy, cancelled all the decisions against the Jews in the Italian occupation zone because "these decisions have to be taken only by Italian military occupation authorities". Moreover, after two young members of French
Milice The (French Militia), generally called (; ), was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy France, Vichy régime (with Nazi Germany, German aid) to help fight against the French Resistance during World War ...
tried to attack the Jews who were leaving the Synagogue, Barranco, head of Italian police, sent four
carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...
to protect the synagogue. The Italians took theses actions to show their independence from the Germans - one can discern Donati's continuous intelligent and diplomatic action. All the German telegrams and letters expressed rage and indignation at the resistance to German demands. In spite of the arrest orders by the German police Donati succeeded in sending 2.500 Jews away from Nice by transferring them to areas not occupied by the Germans such as the "forced residency" in Saint-Martin-Vésubie in
Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...
department. The French authorities had received the order not to interfere with the transfer. The French director André Waksman made the film for the television about thi
''1943, A pause during the Holocaust''
shown for the first time in Paris on 4 December 2009. Donati's activity in Nice became a legend, his name became a beacon. The members of the French militia and his enemies called him "the Pope of the Jews".


The 1943 rescue plan

At the beginning of 1943 Donati prepared an ambitious plan to transfer thousands of Jews from southern France to
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
with the support of the Italian, Vatican, British and American authorities. He talked with the British and American ambassadors to the Vatican, Osborne and Titman, in August and was aided by the prudent and strenuous work of the French Capuchin Père Marie-Benoît who was connected to the Italian Jewish relief organization DELASEM. The intention was to send to Italy the maximum possible number of Jewish refugees and from there to transfer them in Northern Africa in four ships (Duilio, Giulio Cesare, Saturnia, Vulcania) paid for by the Jewish Joint Committee. In Rome passports were prepared. The Badoglio government had chosen the sites where the refugees would be given hospitality and had assured the feasibility of the operation before the disclosure of the Armistice with the Allies which was signed on September 3. When the king of Italy signed the armistice with the Allies however, the plan fell through. Donati, who had planned to return to Nice to organize the transfer, was luckily stopped in Florence because in Nice the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
was waiting to arrest him, his apartment was sacked and robbed. Searched for by the Germans also in Italy, he stayed in hiding for three months first in Tuscany and then in Lombardy, then he succeeded in taking refuge in Switzerland on 14 October 1943 at Stabio with some nephews. From
Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...
, where he lived, Donati tried to find out what happened to the deported Jews putting pressure on the
International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a aid agency, humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of Law of ...
and meeting in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
with the Apostolic Nuncio and British, American and Italian diplomats.


The diplomat 1945-1960

In 1945 the Italian Government invited Donati to go back to France and appointed him as general assistant Delegate of the Red Cross. In agreement with the Italian ambassador in Paris Giuseppe Saragat (later President of the Italian Republic) he led the negotiations with the French government for assisting and liberating the Italian prisoners and civil internees. He was also appointed Chargé d'Affaires of San Marino Republic in Paris and, in November 1953, promoted to Plenipotentiary Minister. Thanks to the good relations with the Apostolic Nuncio in Paris Angelo Roncalli (afterwards
Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
) Donati helped in 1953 to resolve the Finaly Affair involving two Jewish children who had been saved from deportation by Catholic nuns who didn't want to give them back to their uncles after the war because they had been baptized. Donati forcefully refused the role of a hero or declarations of gratitude but received declarations and letters of gratitude from the Jewish organizations of Nice and individual Jews. He adopted two Jewish children nine and ten years old, Marianne and Rolf Spier, whose German Jewish parents Carl Spier and Hilde Wolff had been deported from France and killed in Nazi German concentration camps located on occupied Polish soil. Donati's servant, Francesco Moraldo, hid them in Creppo in the municipality of Triora in Liguria, his birthplace, after Donati's flight to Switzerland. Donati died in Paris. On 27 January 2004, Modena Municipality, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Modena, the Istituto Storico di Modena and the Jewish Community of Modena and Reggio Emilia organized a Study Convention in memory of Angelo Donati an
an exhibition with photos
On February 3 and 4 2016 the city of Nice has organized celebrations in his memory. The celebrations started in the Synagogue and finished with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque on the Promenade des Anglais at the corner with Rue Cronstadt, in front of Hôtel Negresco.


Honours

* Grand'Ufficiale of the Italian Crown * Commendatore of the Ordine di Sant'Agata of San Marino * Commandeur de la Legion d'honneur, 1936 * Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana, 23 November 1950 * in remembrance, 26 January 2004, with the following motivation by the President of the Italian Republic Ciampi: ''During the second world war in the area of France occupied by Italian troupes, Angelo Donati, with indomitable courage succeeded in saving, in collaboration with Italian civil and military authorities, thousands of Jews of different nationalities, protecting their lives menaced by deportation in nazi extermination camps. With generosity of mind and passionate commitment he gave life and coherent affirmation to the values of liberty and justice. Noble and shining example of elevated civic virtues.''


See also

* Italian occupation of France during World War II


References

*Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol VI, pag. 166 *André Waksman (director), film for the television HD-T
''1943, A pause during the Holocaust''
Italy/France, 2009, 59' *Paolo Veziano, Angelo Donati, Un ebreo modenese tra Italia e Francia, catalogo della mostra allestita in occasione del convegno di studi in onore di Angelo Donati, Modena, 27 gennaio 2004 *Edmond Fleg e Raoul Elia, Introduzione alla Haggadà di Pesach, Sefer Angelo, Milano, Editrice Fondazione Sally Mayer, 1962 *Elena Aga Rossi, Una nazione allo sbando. L'armistizio dell'8 settembre, Bologna, Il mulino, 2003, nuova edizione ampliata *Daniel Carpi, Between Mussolini and Hitler. The Jews and the Italian Authorities in France and Tunisia, Hannover-London, Brandeis University Press, 1994 *Maria Sofia Casnedi - Fabio Della Seta, Cara Sophie, Udine, Paolo Gaspari ed., 1966 *Alberto Cavaglion, Nella notte straniera. Gli ebrei di St Martin Vésubie, Cuneo, L'Arciere, 2003 quarta edizione aggiornata, trad. francese Nice, Editions Serre, 1993 *Liliana Picciotto Fargion, Il libro della memoria. Gli Ebrei deportati dall'Italia (1943–1945), Milano, Mursia, 2002, nuova ed. aggiornata *Paolo Frajese, L'ultimo rifugio: gli ebrei in Francia durante l'occupazione italiana, documentario del TG1, 13 novembre 1997 *Madeleine Kahn, Angelo Donati. De l'oasis italienne au lieu du crime des allemands, Paris, Editions Bénévent, 2004 *Serge Klarsfeld, Vichy-Auschwitz. 1942–1944, Paris, Fayard, 2001, nuova edizione ampliata *Jean Marie G.Le Clézio, Étoile errante, Paris, Gallimard, 1992, trad. italiana di Ela Basso, Milano, Saggiatore, 2000 *François Maspero, II tempo degli Italiani, Torino, Einaudi, 1998 *Jean Louis Panicacci, Les Alpes Maritimes de 1939 à 1945, Nice, Editions Serre,1989 *Léon Poliakov - Jacques Sabille, La condizione degli ebrei sotto l'occupazione italiana, Milano, Edizioni di Comunità, 1956 *Davide Rodogno, Il nuovo ordine mediterraneo. Le politiche di occupazione dell'Italia fascista in Europa (1940–1943), Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2003 *Hélène Saulnier, Nizza occupata, in "Les Langues Néo-Latines", LXXXIX, 1995, pp. 49–58. *Michele Sarfatti, Gli ebrei nell'Italia fascista, Torino, Einaudi, 2000 *Jonathan Steinberg, Tutto o niente. L'Asse e gli ebrei nei territori occupati 1941–1943, Milano, Mursia, 1997 *Olga Tarcali, (1935–1945), Torino, Harmattan Italia, 2004 () *Klaus Voigt, Il rifugio precario. Gli esuli in Italia dal 1933 al 1945, Firenze, La Nuova Italia, 1993 e 1996, due voll. *Paolo Veziano, Ombre di confine. L'emigrazione clandestina degli ebrei stranieri dalla Riviera dei Fiori verso la Costa Azzurra (1938–1940), Pinerolo, Alzavi, 2001 * Susan Zuccotti, The Holocaust, the French and the Jews, New York, Basic Books, 1993


External links


Convention in honor of Angelo Donati, Modena, January 27, 2004

From the French Shoah memorial : Angelo Donati’s report on the steps taken by the Italians to save the Jews in Italian-occupied France

Nice, France: A Great Escape, then and now, Joseph Lieberman, Jewish Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donati, Angelo 1885 births 1960 deaths Italian bankers 20th-century Italian Jews 20th-century philanthropists People from Modena Italian military personnel of World War I