Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Edgardo Pietro Andrea Sogno Rata del Vallino di Ponzone (29 December 1915 – 5 August 2000) was an Italian

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

and

political figure A politician is a person who participates in 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 or duties tha ...

. He was born in an aristocratic family from

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Under Fascism

Sogno was born in

. He joined the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

at 18 and became sublieutenant in the "Nizza Cavalleria" regiment. After graduating in law, in 1938 he volunteered to fight in 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 ...

on the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

side with Italian troops sent by

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 ...

. In 1940, he entered the Italian

diplomatic service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

. During this time, he also started frequenting some

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 ...

circles, which included

Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce, ( , ; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography, and aesthetics. A Cultural liberalism, poli ...

and Giaime Pintor. In 1942, he was called back into military service and deployed in

Vichy France 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 Battle of France, ...

. A year later he was arrested on charges of high treason for having publicly hoped for the victory of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. A

monarchist 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 ...

, he was then close to the

Italian Liberal Party The Italian Liberal Party (, PLI) was a liberal political party in Italy. The PLI, which was heir to the liberal currents of both the Historical Right and the Historical Left, was a minor party after World War II, but also a frequent junio ...

(PLI), and after the

armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

became representative of the PLI at the

National Liberation Committee The National Liberation Committee (, CLN) was a political umbrella organization and the main representative of the Italian resistance movement fighting against the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationist forces of the ...

, the umbrella organization of the

Italian resistance movement The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

. He established the liberal-leaning partisan group ''"''Organizzazione Franchi" and was awarded the

Gold Medal of Military Valor The Gold Medal of Military Valor () is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia for deeds of outstanding gallantry in war by junior officers and soldiers. The face of the medal displayed the profile o ...

for his wartime acts. During the war he also helped hundreds of Italian Jews and others seek safe haven in Switzerland.

After the war

After the Liberation, he founded the ''Corriere Lombardo'' newspaper as well as ''Costume''. In September 1945 he was named by the PLI as one of the deputies to the National Council, a provisional legislative body. He contested the June 2, 1946 referendum creating the Republic of Italy, submitting without success numerous appeals before the ''

Corte di Cassazione The Supreme Court of Cassation () is the highest court of appeal or court of last resort in Italy. It has its seat in the Palace of Justice, Rome. The Court of Cassation also ensures the correct application of law in the inferior and appea ...

'' in the aim of reversing the results of the vote and restoring the monarchy. He joined the diplomatic service, serving in Buenos Aires, where

Juan Peron ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philipp ...

was head of state, then in Paris, London, Washington DC and, last, as

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

Stefano Baldi Stefano Baldi is an Italian ambassador and author. From 2016 to 2020, he was the Ambassador to Bulgaria. From January 4, 2021 to September 15, 2024 he was the Permanent Representative of Italy to the Organization for Security and Co-operation i ...

(27 March 2009)
Scheda biografica Edgardo Sogno
. Retrieved 9 December 2021. While posted to Budapest, Hungary, in 1956, he helped people flee the country after the Soviet Union invaded Hungary and crushed the Hungarian Revolution. He returned to Italy in 1971, where he founded the ''Comitati di Resistenza Democratica'' (Committee of Democratic Resistance), an

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

organization of the political center. Three years later, he was accused by the

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

magistrate

Luciano Violante Luciano Violante (born 25 September 1941) is an Italian judge and politician. Biography Violante was born in Dire Dawa. His father, a journalist and Communist, was forced to emigrate to Ethiopia by the fascist regime. His family was held by the ...

of having planned, along with

Luigi Cavallo Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like ...

and

Randolfo Pacciardi Randolfo Pacciardi (1 January 1899 – 14 April 1991) was an Italian politician. He was a long-time member of the secular, centre-left Italian Republican Party. An ardent anti-fascist, he lived in exile for many years and was an officer of the ...

, the ''

Golpe bianco Golpe has multiple meanings, as described below: * In music, golpe can mean **golpe (guitar technique) is a Flamenco guitar technique where one uses the fingers to tap on the soundboard of the guitar, from the Spanish ''golpe'', meaning to strike; * ...

'' ("white coup d'etat"), a supposed coup. Following a year and a half of prison, he was freed in 1978, the

investigative magistrate An examining magistrate is a judge in an inquisitorial system of law who carries out pre-trial investigations into allegations of crime and in some cases makes a recommendation for prosecution. Also known as an investigating magistrate, inquisito ...

declaring that he was unable to proceed in the trial. He was later completely exonerated for attempting to plot a coup. Liberal, monarchist, then admirer of

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

, Edgardo Sogno returned to politics only in 1996, as a candidate 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

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

, for the

National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...

(''Alleanza Nazionale'') party founded by

Gianfranco Fini Gianfranco Fini (born 3 January 1952) is a retired Italian politician who served as the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013 and Deputy Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. He is the former leader of the far-right Italian ...

. Failing to be elected, he retired to private life. In his 1998 memoirs, Sogno revealed how he had visited the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

station chief in Rome in July 1974 to inform him of his plans for an anti-communist coup. He wrote: "I told him that I was informing him as an ally in the struggle for the freedom of the west and asked him what the attitude of the American government would be," and then: "He answered what I already knew: the United States would have supported any initiative tending to keep the communists out of government."Philip Willan, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', March 26, 200
Terrorists 'helped by CIA' to stop rise of left in Italy

Honors

* June 2, 1974

Publications

* * *''

De Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

: La spada appesa al filo'' Bietti (1997) *''Due fronti'' (1998), memoirs ("Two Fronts", two accounts of the Spanish Civil War, one from the Francist side and Sogno, the other from Nino Isaia who took part to the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

) *''La grande utopia: I confini delleconomia, della natura, della morale'' Sugarco (1982) ASIN: B0000ECLR6 * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sogno, Edgardo 1915 births 2000 deaths Counts in Italy Politicians from Turin Corpo Truppe Volontarie personnel Italian monarchists Nobility from Turin Italian military personnel of World War II Italian resistance movement members Italian Liberal Party politicians National Alliance (Italy) politicians Diplomats from Turin 20th-century diplomats

Under Fascism

After the war

Honors

Publications

See also

References