Claudio Treves (24 March 1869 – 11 June 1933) was an Italian politician and journalist.

Life

Youth

Claudio Treves was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. Th ...

into a well off assimilated Jewish family. As a student he participated in the

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics * Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe an ...

milieu of Turin and, in 1888, he joined first his university's student radical circle, then the local independent labor union, influenced by the

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

ese socialist

Filippo Turati Filippo Turati (; 26 November 1857 – 29 March 1932) was an Italian sociologist, criminologist, poet and socialist politician. Early life Born in Canzo, province of Como, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna in 1877, and particip ...

. In 1892 he graduated in law and made his way into the militant

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

community.

PSI

Treves became a member of the managing committee of the

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ese regional federation of the

Partito Socialista Italiano The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a Socialism, socialist and later Social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the l ...

(

PSI Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to: Alphabetic letters * Psi (Greek) (Ψ, ψ), the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet * Psi (Cyrillic) (Ѱ, ѱ), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek Arts and entertainment * "Psi" as an abbreviation ...

), and in 1894, prosecuted under the 'exceptional laws' on sedition, he spent two months in prison. For some years after he travelled abroad, spending two years to

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, then on to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavia. All the while Treves was sending reports from these countries to ''

Avanti! ''Avanti!'' is a 1972 American/Italian international co-production comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Samuel A. Taylor's play, ...

'', the Italian socialist paper. He contributed to several newspapers and periodicals, among which were '' Per l'idea'', ''

Grido del popolo ''High School Musical 3: Senior Year'' is the soundtrack to the 2008 Walt Disney Pictures film of the same name. It was released on October 21, 2008, in the United States. Album information The album sold 297,000 copies in the first week of sal ...

'' (which he edited from 1896 to 1898), ''

Critica Sociale ''Critica Sociale'' is a left-wing Italian newspaper. It is linked to the Italian Socialist Party. Before Benito Mussolini banned opposition newspapers in 1926, ''Critica Sociale'' was a prominent supporter of the original Italian Socialist Part ...

'', '' Lotta'', '' Lotta di classe'', '' Rassegna popolare del socialismo'', '' Riscatto'' and, finally, Milan's '' Università popolare'' where he was on the editorial board until 1915.

From the PSI to the PSU

In 1899 he moved to Milan to become editor of the daily ''

Il Tempo ''Il Tempo'' (meaning ''Time'' in English) is a daily Italian newspaper published in Rome, Italy. History and profile ''Il Tempo'' was founded in Rome by Renato Angiolillo in 1944. At the initial phase the newspaper was a conservative publica ...

'', which under his stewardship became a leading voice for greater democracy and the Italian

Reformist Socialist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can e ...

movement. Working closely with Turati, in 1906 he was elected deputy from Milan. over the next decade, the PSI see-sawed between reformist and revolutionary factions. Seen as far too close to

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. After Benito Mussolini, he is the List of Italian Prime Ministers by time in office, second-longe ...

and the Liberals, Turati and the Reformists lost control of the party in 1904, regained it in 1908, only to lose it again in 1912. After the Milan conference of the PSI in 1910 he was named editor of ''Avanti!'', a job in which he was succeeded in 1912 by Giovanni Bacci and later

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

before the one time socialist's drift to the right. As a result of the division in the socialist movement between ' Maximalists' and

Reformists Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can eve ...

, in 1922, with Turati,

Giacomo Matteotti Giacomo Matteotti (; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian socialist politician. On 30 May 1924, he openly spoke in the Italian Parliament alleging the Fascists committed fraud in the recently held elections, and denounced the violence ...

, and Treves founded the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU). He was named editor of the party's paper, ''

La Giustizia LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'', only to see it closed by state order of the new

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

government in 1925.

Exile

In November 1926 Treves fled into exile, emigrating first to Switzerland and then to France, where he was one of the more frequent collaborators of the weekly journal of the PSLI (the underground successor to the now outlawed PSU), ''Rinascita socialista''. In 1927 he was named editor of '' La Libertà'', journal of the

Concentrazione Antifascista Italiana (CAI; Italian Anti-Fascist Concentration), officially known as (Anti-Fascist Action Concentration), was an Italian coalition of anti-fascist groups which existed from 1927 to 1934. It was formed in Paris on 27 March 1927 with the purpose of the ...

, a coalition of non-communist Italian anti-fascist groups. In 1930 he supported the unification of the PSLI and the

. Always attentive to the evolution of European Socialism, he attended the

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

conference of 1930, the international trade union conference in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

in June 1931 and the conference of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that su ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in July 1931. He died on 11 June 1933, still in exile in Paris, and in 1948 his ashes were returned to Milan.

Family

Treves' son,

Paolo Treves Paolo Treves (27 July 1908 – 4 August 1958) was an Italian politician, publicist, political scientist, academic and anti-fascist. Biography Born in Milan on 27 July 1908, the son of well-known Italian socialist Claudio Treves (1869–1933), T ...

, later succeeded him as a militant of the

and editor of ''

'', while his sister,

Annetta Treves Annetta is a town in Parker County, Texas, Parker County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the daughter of the founder of the town, a Mr. Fraser who built a station and general store in th ...

, was also active in Milanese politics. She is the mother of writer and activist

Carlo Levi Carlo Levi () (29 November 1902 – 4 January 1975) was an Italian painter, writer, activist, communist, and doctor. He is best known for his book ''Cristo si è fermato a Eboli'' (''Christ Stopped at Eboli''), published in 1945, a memoir of hi ...

. In the

Florestano Vancini Florestano Vancini (24 August 1926 – 18 September 2008) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed over 20 films since 1960. His 1966 film '' Le stagioni del nostro amore'', starring Enrico Maria Salerno, was entered into ...

's film

The Assassination of Matteotti ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

(1973), Treves is played by

Manlio Busoni Manlio Busoni (1906–1999) was an Italian film and television actor.Chiti & Poppi p.105 He was also a voice actor, dubbing the performances of other actors. Selected filmography * ''Roma città libera'' (1946) * '' The White Primrose'' (1947) ...

References

* * * * * *

External links

*
Reprint of an article on Treves
by Carlo Rosselli.
Paulo Treves papers
at the International Institute for Social History

Antonio Gramsci, from ''State and Civil Society''. A biting critique of Reformism, Treves, and Turati. {{DEFAULTSORT:Treves, Claudio 1869 births 1933 deaths Politicians from Turin 20th-century Italian Jews Journalists from Turin Italian male journalists Italian Socialist Party politicians Jewish socialists Members of the Executive of the Labour and Socialist International Unitary Socialist Party (Italy, 1922) politicians Deputies of Legislature XXII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXIV of the Kingdom of Italy Exiled Italian politicians 19th-century Italian Jews Italian Aventinian secessionists