Fabio De Felice (13 July 1927 – 11 January 2024) was an Italian politician. A member 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) and the

Monarchist National Party The Monarchist National Party (, PNM) was a list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy founded in 1946. It was a right-wing competitor to Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democracy and was especially strong in Southern Ital ...

, he served in 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 ...

from 1953 to 1958.

Biography

De Felice was born in

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

, and trained as a schoolteacher. In 1953, he was seriously injured during riots incited by MSI activists in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

and had a leg amputated, necessitating the use of a wheelchair. Considered a hero by the party's supporters, he was adopted as a parliamentary candidate by the MSI soon afterwards and elected to the Chamber of Deputies, representing

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

. He served in parliament for only one term, leaving the MSI for the Italian monarchists half-way through and standing down at the following election. In 1965, De Felice joined the

Democratic Union for the New Republic Democratic Union for the New Republic (, UDNR), usually referred to as New Republic (''Nuova Repubblica'', NR) was a short-lived list of political parties in Italy, political party in Italy founded on 1 March 1964 by Randolfo Pacciardi, a former ...

(UDNR), a nominally centrist political party founded by the former partisan and

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party (, PRI) is a political party in Italy established in 1895, which makes it the oldest political party still active in the country. The PRI identifies with 19th-century classical radicalism, as well as Mazzinianism, a ...

(PRI) deputy

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 ...

. Although the UDNR's main political goal was the establishment of a secular, democratic "new Republic" with a strong executive branch, akin to what had been achieved by

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 ...

in France a few years before, it also attracted the attention of fascists such as De Felice; this was partly due to Pacciardi's hostility to communism and his desire to overcome "the antithesis between fascism and antifascism", but it also stemmed from the party's rhetorical promises to "remake the state" through strong leadership, which was redolent of ''mussolinismo''. De Felice was the UDNR's chief propagandist from 1967 onwards, but left some time before it was disbanded in 1980. In the 1970s, De Felice turned decisively towards

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 ...

. He was allegedly involved with

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 ...

, engaging in clandestine activity with several ''Ordinovisti'' (as a member of the so-called "Tivoli Group") even after the organisation was forcibly dissolved by the government in 1973. He was also implicated in the

Borghese coup The ''Golpe Borghese'' (English: Borghese Coup) was a failed Italian ''coup d'état'' allegedly planned for the night of 7 or 8 December 1970. It was named after Junio Valerio Borghese, wartime commander of the Decima Flottiglia MAS and a her ...

of 1970 alongside his brother Alfredo. By 1977, he was a senior figure in a small, far-right

vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

grouping named "Let's Build Action" (''Costruiamo d'Azione''). Within that organisation he was, alongside

Aldo Semerari Aldo Semerari (; 8 May 1923 − March or 1 April 1982) was an Italian criminologist, anthropologist and psychiatrist. He was also a noted neo-fascist, who was suspected of complicity in the terror attack that killed 85 people at Bologna railway ...

, the leader of a "traditionalist" faction that eschewed direct revolutionary action in favour of constructing a logistical base that would bring together like-minded militant groups and individuals, including criminal elements. De Felice and Semerari were among those arrested in the "blitz" of 28 August 1980, following the

Bologna massacre The Bologna massacre () was a Terrorism in Italy, terrorist bombing of the Bologna Centrale railway station in Bologna, Italy, on the morning of 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded over 200. Several members of the neo-fascist ter ...

earlier that month in which 85 people died. Charged with "subversive association" and put on trial in 1987, De Felice was acquitted the following year. De Felice died in

Poggio Catino Poggio Catino is a (municipality) in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region of Latium, located about northeast of Rome and about southwest of Rieti. As of 31 December 2011, it had a population of 1,335 and an area of . History The village ...

on 11 January 2024, at the age of 96.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Felice, Fabio 1927 births 2024 deaths Italian Social Movement politicians Italian propagandists Monarchist National Party politicians Deputies of Legislature II of Italy People from Alessandria