Arturo Michelini (17 February 1909 – 15 June 1969) was an Italian politician and secretary of the

Italian Social Movement The Italian Social Movement (, 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 conservatism. In 1972, the Itali ...

(MSI). A minor party official during the days of

Italian fascism Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

and a war veteran, Michelini emerged as one of the two leading figures in the MSI during the 1950s and 1960s, representing the moderate tendency of the party against the nostalgic fascist tendency.

Early years

Michelini was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. An accountant by profession, he was a lower to middle-ranking figure in the

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 ...

, rising to become secretary of the party in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

.P. Davies & D. Lynch, ''The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right'', 2002, p.225 Michelini, a pro-

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

veteran of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, served with the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

on the Eastern Front during the

Second World War 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 was twice wounded in action and decorated with the

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor () is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, a silver medal. These were intended for j ...

for his efforts.

Philip Rees Philip Rees (born 1941) is a British writer and librarian formerly in charge of acquisitions at the J. B. Morrell Library, University of York. He has written books on fascism and the extreme right. Works *'' Fascism in Britain'' (Harvester P ...

, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'', Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, p. 264 He did not hold office in the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

. Roger Eatwell, ''Fascism A History'', 2003, p. 250

Leadership of the MSI

Michelini emerged as a leading figure in the

neo-fascism Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

strain of Italian politics that emerged immediately after the war and was a prominent figure in the foundation of the MSI. 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 ...

for Rome at the 1948 election as one of the new party's six representatives. He emerged as leader of the MSI in 1954 in succession to Augusto De Marsanich and sought to moderate the party's neo-fascism in an attempt to bring it more into the political mainstream, an endeavour in which he largely failed. He was linked to financial powers in

as well as the

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

who sought to move the MSI away from its

Third Position The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented ...

rhetoric into more

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

ideals. Michelini's policies helped to push some of the more radical elements out of the party and into such fringe groups as

Avanguardia Nazionale The National Vanguard () is a name that has been used for at least two neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups in Italy. Original group The original National Vanguard was an extra-parliamentary movement formed as a breakaway group from the Italian Social ...

and

Ordine Nuovo Ordine Nuovo (Italian language, Italian for "New Order", full name Centro Studi Ordine Nuovo, "New Order Scholarship Center") was an Italian far right cultural and extra-parliamentary political and paramilitary organization founded by Pino Rau ...

. In general he disliked the unconstitutional methods of such minor groups and was the dominant figure in the "realist" tendency within the party, supporting co-operation with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and moves to build a pan-right alliance with the

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

and

Monarchists Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

. In this regard he faced regular internal opposition, notably from

Giorgio Almirante Giorgio Almirante (27 June 1914 – 22 May 1988) was an Italian politician who founded the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, which he led until his retirement in 1987. Early life Almirante was born at Salsomaggiore Terme, in Emilia Rom ...

as well as other radicals such as Ezio Maria Gray, Massimo Anderson and Pino Romualdi who all wanted the basis of the MSI to be the charter issued by the 1943 Congress of Verona. As political editor of ''

Secolo d'Italia ''Secolo d'Italia'' (; "Century of Italy") is a daily online newspaper in Italy, published since 1952, formerly supporting neo-fascism. In 2012, it ceased its print edition and continued as an online-only conservative publication. Political an ...

'', Michelini was able to ensure that his position was that most widely disseminated. Despite these attempts at moderation the MSI lost support under Michelini's leadership, dropping from 5.8% in the 1953 general election to 4.9% in the 1958 election.Ferraresi, ''Threats to Democracy'', p. 28 Michelini however was a skilled negotiator and adept at the internal politics of the MSI and at the 8th party congress in June 1965 when the pro-fascist wing formed a majority for the first time under his leadership he was able to remain in position by virtue of concluding a private deal with their leader Almirante. In this respect he was able to retain the leadership of the MSI until his death in 1969, at which point Almirante took over.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michelini, Arturo 1909 births 1969 deaths Politicians from Florence Italian fascists Italian Social Movement politicians Deputies of Legislature I of Italy Deputies of Legislature II of Italy Deputies of Legislature III of Italy Deputies of Legislature IV of Italy Deputies of Legislature V of Italy Italian people of the Spanish Civil War Italian military personnel of World War II Italian anti-communists