Giulio Perugi (14 June 1886 – 23 February 1949) was an Italian general during

World War II 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 ...

. After the war he became a member of the

Italian Constituent Assembly The Italian Constituent Assembly ( Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Itali ...

Biography

He was born in Viterbo on June 14, 1886. After enlisting in the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army () (RE) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfredo Fanti signed a decree c ...

he became a cadet at the Royal Military Academy of Infantry and Cavalry of

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

in 1905–1907, after which he was appointed infantry second lieutenant and assigned to the 59th Infantry Regiment "Calabria". He took part in the Italian-Turkish War of 1911–1912 with the 60th Infantry Regiment, being awarded a

Bronze Medal of Military Valor The Bronze Medal of Military Valor () is an Italian medal for gallantry. It was established by Charles Albert of Sardinia on 26 March 1833, along with the higher ranking Gold Medal of Military Valor and Silver Medal of Military Valor, which were ...

. After the war he was admitted to the Army War School in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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. The city is main ...

, where he remained until September 1922, when he returned to service with the 60th Infantry Regiment. Between the two world wars he was commander of the 157th Infantry Regiment "Liguria". He took part in the

Second Italo-Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression waged by Fascist Italy, Italy against Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia, which lasted from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is oft ...

as head of the Army transport office, and was then promoted to brigadier general for war merit on 1 July 1937. He was then commander of the "Fossalta" Infantry Brigade and then quartermaster-general of the 2nd Army. From 22 September 1939 he became commander of the 36th Infantry Division Forlì, and on 1 January 1940 he was promoted to the rank of Major General. After the entry of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

into

, on 10 June 1940, he participated in operations against France in the western Alps at the head of the Forlì Division. On 1 October 1940 he was transferred at the disposal of the Ministry of War, and from the following 9 December he was appointed commander of the 51st Infantry Division Siena, participating in the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balk ...

until January 1941. During the Greek counteroffensive in late 1940, his Division suffered heavy casualties, and Perugi's decision to withdraw from Himara was heavily criticized by his superior

Ubaldo Soddu Ubaldo Soddu (23 July 1883, Salerno – 25 July 1949, Rome) was an Italian Fascist General officer, general and politician who held the position of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army and Undersecretary (Italy), Undersecretary of State for War du ...

. He was then repatriated and assigned from 1 August 1941 to the command of the division of the 26th Infantry Division Assietta (stationed 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. ...

), a post he held until 30 April 1942, when he was replaced by General Pietro Zaglio. On the same date he was appointed commander of the Territorial Defense of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, which he held until 1 July 1943. From 15 July 1943 he became commander of the Territorial Defense of

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

; following 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 ...

, he rejected requests by local anti-fascists to organize the resistance against the Germans, allowing them to enter Italian barracks and depots and quietly seize control of Udine, and on 13 September 1943 he was captured and interned at Oflag 64/Z in Schokken,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, where he remained until 9 October 1945. After his release and return to Italy, he was subsequently 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 ...

in the ranks of the

Common Man's Front The Common Man's Front (, FUQ), also translated as Front of the Ordinary Man, was a short-lived right-wing populist, monarchism, monarchist and anti-communism, anti-communist political party in Italy. It was formed shortly after the end of the W ...

, serving in the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, where he was a member of the commission tasked with drafting the

Italian Constitution The Constitution of the Italian Republic () was ratified on 22 December 1947 by the Constituent Assembly, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against, before coming into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the previous Constitution of the Ki ...

. He died in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on February 23, 1949.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perugi, Giulio 1886 births 1949 deaths Italian military personnel of the Italo-Turkish War Italian military personnel of World War II Italian Army generals Members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor