Biagio Pace (

Comiso Comiso () is a ''comune'' of the Province of Ragusa, Sicily, Southern Italy. As of 2017, its population was 29,857. History In the past Comiso has been incorrectly identified with the ancient Greek colony of Casmene in Magna Graecia. Under the B ...

, 13 November 1889 – Comiso, 28 September 1955) 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 ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Biography

Political Activity

Teaching

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

from 1917 at the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo () is a public university, public research university in Palermo, Italy. It was founded in 1806, and is currently organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although it ...

, in 1922 Pace joined 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 ...

, and in 1924 was a candidate in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

on the Fascist slate and 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 ...

. He was consistently re-elected until 1939, and was President of the Legislative Commission for National Education. From 1939 until 1943, he was a national councillor in the

Chamber of Fasces and Corporations Chamber of Fasces and Corporations () was the lower house of the legislature of the Kingdom of Italy from 23 March 1939 to 5 August 1943, during the height of the regime of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party. History It was established on ...

. On 26 December 1946 Pace presided over the founding meeting 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 ...

and in 1947 was elected to the National Executive Committee of the party.

Academic Activity

He was Professor of Archaeology and the History of Classical Art at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

from 1925 and from 1932 to 1935 Head of the Faculty of Literature at the

University of Naples Federico II 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 ...

. From 1926 he was Academic of the Lincei and then Academic of Italy. In the thirties he directed a mission in the

Sahara The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

which brought to light the civilization of the

Garamantes The Garamantes (; ) were ancient peoples, who may have descended from Berbers, Berber tribes, Toubous, Toubou tribes, and Saharan Pastoral period, pastoralists that settled in the Fezzan region by at least 1000 BC and established a civilization t ...

. To him are owed the discoveries of

Camarina Kamarina or Camarina () was an ancient city on the southern coast of Sicily in Magna Graecia. The ruins of the site and an archaeological museum are located south of the modern town of Scoglitti, a (borough) of the (municipality) of Vitto ...

and

Mozia Motya was an ancient and powerful city on San Pantaleo Island off the west coast of Sicily, in the Stagnone Lagoon between Drepanum (modern Trapani) and Lilybaeum (modern Marsala). It is within the present-day comune, commune of Marsala, Ital ...

in Sicily and numerous studies on Byzantine Sicily. In 1933 he was president of the High Council of Antiquities and Fine Arts. In 1943 he was assigned the "Mussolini Award" for the Moral & Historical Sciences by the

Royal Academy of Italy The Royal Academy of Italy () was a short-lived Italian academy of the Italian Fascism, Fascist period. It was created on 7 January 1926 by royal decree,See reference . but was not inaugurated until 28 October 1929. It was effectively dissolved in ...

Works

*''Studi siciliani'', Palermo, 1926 *''Dalla pianura di Adalia alla valle del Meandro'', Milano, Alpes, 1927. *''Arte e civiltà della Sicilia antica'', Milano, Dante Alighieri, 1935 *''Tembien: Notte di un Legionario della "28 ottobre"'', Napoli, Ricciardi, 1936. *''L'Impero e la collaborazione internazionale in Africa'', Roma, National Institute of Fascist Culture, 1938. *''Introduzione allo studio dell'archeologia'', Milano, Mondadori, 1947

Bibliography

*Pietro Giammellaro, "Biagio Pace e la Sicilia antica", in ''Studi Storici'', 53 (2) (2012) pp. 391–420 (cfr

. * Pietro Giammellaro, "Il problema della presenza fenicia in Sicilia nella storiografia italiana nazionalista e fascista: Ettore Pais, Emanuele Ciaceri e Biagio Pace", in: Ana Margarida Arruda (Edited by), ''Fenicíos e Púnicos por terra e mar. Acta do 6º Congresso Internacional de Estudos Fenícios e Púnicos'', Centro do Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon (ES), 2013, pp. 159-166. * Pietro Giammellaro, "Biagio Pace, the Whitakers and the first steps of Archaeological investigation in Motya", in "Rivista di Studi Fenici XLVII (2019), pp. 39-5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Biagio 1889 births 1955 deaths People from Comiso Politicians from the Province of Ragusa Italian fascists Archaeologists from Sicily Academic staff of the University of Pisa 20th-century Italian archaeologists