Carlo Costamagna (21 September 1881, in

Quiliano Quiliano () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about west of Savona. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 7,225 and an area of .All demographics ...

– 1 March 1965, in Pietra Ligure) was an Italian lawyer and academic noted as a theorist of

corporatism Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come toget ...

. He worked closely with

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 ...

and his fascist movement.

Path to fascism

After studying law, Costamagna joined the fascist movement in 1920 and in 1924 was appointed National Secretary of Technical Councils. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1990, p. 68 Politically Costamagna was highly

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 ...

and saw

fascism 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 ...

as a transitory phase that existed only for the imposition of corporatism. On this point he had a long-running intellectual debate with Sergio Panunzio who was a strong supporter of the fascist state as an end in itself rather than just a means to economic change. He edited his own journal, ''

Lo Stato ''Lo Stato'' (Italian: ''The State'') was a monthly political and finance magazine which existed in the Fascist Italy between 1930 and 1943. Its subtitle was ''Rivista di scienze politiche e giuridiche''. History and profile ''Lo Stato'' was sta ...

'', which he founded in 1930.

Academic career

As an academic he was appointed Professor of Corporate Law at the

University of Ferrara The University of Ferrara () is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 500 students, was the best attended of ...

in 1927, going on to hold similar posts 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 ...

and the University of Rome. His corporatist theories were strongly influenced by the

statism In political science, statism or etatism (from French, ''état'' 'state') is the doctrine that the political authority of the state is legitimate to some degree. This may include economic and social policy, especially in regard to taxation ...

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and t ...

Government work

Alongside his role in the academic world Costamagna was also involved at various level of politics in

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

. Between 1926 and 1927 he was involved in drafting a series of laws with fellow legal expert

Alfredo Rocco Alfredo Rocco (9 September 1875 – 28 August 1935) was an Italian politician and jurist. He was Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Urbino (1899–1902) and in Macerata (1902–1905), then Professor of Civil Procedure in Parma, of ...

and economist Giuseppe Bottai designed to convert Italy to a fascist state. The concept of the "ethical state" that they developed became the official ideology thereafter.Piero Ignazi, ''Extreme Right Parties in Western Europe'', Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 17 He then moved on to take a leading role in the Ministry of Corporations. He became a member of the

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 ...

in 1929 and served in its successor 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 ...

. He was admitted to the

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

in 1943, by which time he had become part of the circle around the writer

Julius Evola Giulio Cesare Andrea "Julius" Evola (; 19 May 1898 – 11 June 1974) was an Italian far-right philosopher and writer. Evola regarded his values as Traditionalist conservatism, traditionalist, Aristocracy, aristocratic, War, martial and Empire, im ...

.Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 69

Post-war

Costamagna did not face prison for his involvement in the fascist government after 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 ...

but he was barred from any university involvement as a consequence. He was involved in the formation 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, with his combination of conservative ideals, corporatist economics and Evola-inspired mysticism became one of the leading exponents of the Italian version of the Conservative Revolutionary movement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costamagna, Carlo 1881 births 1965 deaths Academic staff of the University of Ferrara Italian fascists Italian jurists Conservative Revolutionary movement Italian Social Movement politicians Academic staff of the University of Pisa Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome People from Quiliano 20th-century Italian lawyers Italian magazine founders