Leandro Arpinati (29 February 1892 – 22 April 1945) was an Italian politician.

Biography

Arpinati was born at

Civitella di Romagna Civitella di Romagna () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Forlì. Civitella di Romagna borders the following municipali ...

. Before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was originally an

individualist-anarchist Individualist anarchism or anarcho-individualism is a collection of anarchist currents that generally emphasize the individual and their will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and ideological systems. Individuali ...

and, together with his friend

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 ...

, collaborated on the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

newspaper ''La lotta di classe''. He was a fervid interventionist as early as August 1914. In those years he moved to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, where he worked on the Italian railroad. In early 1920 he founded the second Fascio di combattimento in the city. On 21 November 1920 he was amongst the leaders of the squads which took part in the fighting between Fascists and Socialists in Piazza Nettuno and Piazza Maggiore in Bologna (the so-called ''strage of

Palazzo d'Accursio 260px, Palazzo d'Accursio. Palazzo d'Accursio (or Palazzo Comunale) is a palace once formulated to house major administrative offices of the city of Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It is located on the Piazza Maggiore, and is the city's ...

''). The following year he was 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 ...

and, after the

March on Rome The March on Rome () was an organized mass demonstration in October 1922 which resulted in Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party (, PNF) ascending to power in the Kingdom of Italy. In late October 1922, Fascist Party leaders planned a march ...

, he was made national vice-secretary of the

Partito Nazionale Fascista The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, Italian Fasces of Combat. Th ...

(PNF). In 1926 he became ''

podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

'' of Bologna, a position which he left in 1929 to become Undersecretary of the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

. Arpinati held several positions in the Italian sports world, such as the President of the

Italian National Olympic Committee The Italian National Olympic Committee (, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in ItalyWithin Italy, CONI recognizes 48 national ...

(CONI) and of the

Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages and coordinates the Italian football l ...

(Italian football federation): he led the reformation of the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

championship on national level, and organized the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, senior men's national teams. It took place in Kin ...

. In 1926 he intervened to strip FC Torino of the national football title after a corruption scandal; as the

team had arrived second behind Torino, Arpinati, being a Bolognese, decided to leave the title unassigned (a feat unparalleled until the

2006 Calciopoli ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A, and to a lesser extent, Serie B. The scandal centered on the manipulation of referee appointments to favor certain clubs during the 2004- ...

) to avoid accusations of personal interest. In 1930 the PNF secretary

Achille Starace Achille Starace (; 18 August 1889 – 29 April 1945) was a prominent leader of Fascist Italy before and during World War II. Early life and career Starace was born in Sannicola, province of Lecce, in southern Apulia. His father was a wine and oi ...

accused Arpinati of being behind the attempt against Mussolini in the Bologna Stadium carried out on 31 October 1926. He was therefore charged as enemy of the regime, and confined first in

Lipari Lipari (; ) is a ''comune'' including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, Southern Italy; it is ...

(1934–1937) and then to home detention near Bologna. In 1943 Arpinati refused a personal invitation by Mussolini to join the Repubblica di Salò, the German puppet-state created in northern Italy after the Allied conquest of the southern peninsula. He also helped various member of the CLNAI. He was assassinated on 22 April 1945 at Argelato, one day after the Allied liberation of Bologna, by a group of

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 ...

partisans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arpinati, Leandro 1892 births 1945 deaths Executed Italian people People from Civitella di Romagna People executed by Italy by firing squad Italian football chairmen and investors Assassinated Italian politicians National Fascist Party politicians Politicians assassinated in the 1940s Politicians killed in World War II