Manlio Morgagni

Manlio Morgagni (June 3, 1879 in Forlì-Cesena – July 26, 1943 in Rome) was an Italian Fascist, journalist, former mayor of Milan, former member of the Senate of Italy, and director of the prominent news agency Agenzia Stefani during a period when it was closely aligned with the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini.

Background

Morgagni was born in Forlì-Cesena in 1879. His father was Andrea Morgagni, and his mother was Giulitta Monti. He is the brother of another prominent journalist, Tullio Morgagni. Morgagni gained a diploma from a commercial college. He was initially a supporter of socialist trade unions. He supported Italian intervention in World War I. From 15 November 1914 to 1919, he was administrative director of '' Il Popolo d'Italia'', a newspaper he co-founded with Benito Mussolini. He turned the illustrated newspaper toward support of Fascism, including publishing lavish coverage of Fascist rallies, using foldout panorama images. Along with his brother, Tullio Morgagni, he was one of the founders of the Italian long-distance bicycle race, the Giro d'Italia, under the sponsorship of rival newspapers. In 1919, Arnaldo Mussolini became director of the newspaper, while Morgagni remained in charge of advertising. Morgagni became active in civic politics in Milan, serving as a city councillor from 1923 to 1926, and then as mayor of Milan from 1927 to 1928. In 1928, he founded the agricultural newspaper ''Nature''.

Agenzia Stefani and Mussolini

Manlio Morgagni has been described as an "acolyte" of Mussolini, and was an avowed supporter of Fascism. As Chairman of Agenzia Stefani from 1924 to 1943, he steered the news agency towards hardline propaganda in support of Mussolini. Journalists in Italy who opposed the Fascist regime were arrested and imprisoned at the islands Lipari and Lampedusa along with other political prisoners. Agenzia Stefani "systematically distorted the news" under Morgagni. While Italy lacked a propagandist with the individual influence of Joseph Goebbels, Mussolini was active in turning journalists into supporters of his regime, including foreign journalists, who he courted and flattered to gain positive coverage in American and European newspapers.

In 1924, Mussolini merged the existing radio broadcasters in Italy to form the Unione Radiofonica Italiana (URI), with Enrico Marchesi as its president. The agreement between the government and URI gave the government full censorship powers over URI broadcasts, and the only news to be broadcast by URI was from Agenzia Stefani.

Morgagni was nominated to the Senate of Italy by the Minister of Culture in 1939, and was named to the Senate the same year.

During his career, Morgagni was decorated by the Fascist regime several times, receiving the following distinctions:

image:Cavaliere di Gran Croce OCI Kingdom BAR.svg, Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia, received April 24, 1935
image:Grande ufficiale SSML Regno BAR.svg, Grand'Ufficiale dell'Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro, received June 11, 1936

Death

Morgagni committed suicide on July 26, 1943, the day after the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, remaining a supporter of Mussolini to the end. Morgagni's suicide note was written to Mussolini:
Morgagni is buried in Milan.

Agenzia Stefani had remained privately owned and ostensibly independent, despite many decades of close alignment with Italy's ruling regimes. This nominal independence ended with the death of Morgagni. Agenzia Stefani was appropriated outright by the Fascist government regime, and relocated to Northern Italy in 1943. Its last director, Ernesto Daquanno, was executed on April 28, 1945, shot with several other Fascist leaders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgagni, Manlio
1879 births
1943 suicides
Italian fascists
Italian journalists
Italian male journalists
Censorship in Italy
Italy in World War II
Suicides in Italy
Mayors of Milan