Telesio Interlandi (20 October 1894 – 15 January 1965) was an Italian journalist and propagandist. He was one of the leading advocates of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

. Born in

Chiaramonte Gulfi Chiaramonte Gulfi (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Ciaramunti'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. Geography Chiaramonte Gulfi is located on a hill-top north of Ragusa, Italy, Ragusa at an altitude of ...

, Interlandi took his degree in law and became a

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, writing for such papers as '' Il Travaso delle idee'' (from 1919), ''

La Nazione ''La Nazione'' is one of the oldest regional newspapers in Italy, and was established on 8 July 1859. The paper is based in Florence. History and profile ''La Nazione'' was founded by Bettino Ricasoli, interim head of the Tuscan government. Th ...

'' (from 1921), and ''Impero'' (from 1923) before joining '' Il Tevere'' in 1924. Under Interlandi, this paper became the first distributor of antisemitic propaganda in the mainstream Italian press.Philip Rees, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'', 1990, p. 194 In this respect, he became associated with

Roberto Farinacci Roberto Farinacci (; 16 October 1892 – 28 April 1945) was a leading Italian fascist politician and important member of the National Fascist Party before and during World War II, as well as one of its ardent antisemitic proponents. English hist ...

and

Giovanni Preziosi Giovanni Preziosi (24 October 1881 – 26 April 1945) was an Italian fascist politician noted for his contributions to Fascist Italy. Early life and career Preziosi was born on 24 October 1881 in Torella dei Lombardi into a middle-class fami ...

, and helped to promulgate their antisemitic views.Alastair Hamilton, ''The Appeal of Fascism: A Study of Intellectuals and Fascism 1919-1945'', London: Anthony Blond, 1971, p. 78 An important figure within the

National Fascist Party 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 Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...

, Interlandi was the director of the Fascist Federation of the Italian Press and head of the Fascist Journalist Association. Interlandi was a devotee of

racialism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that the human species is divided into biologically distinct taxa called " races", and that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racial discri ...

and believed that the concept of race was central to the fascist national revolution and this was the root of his strong antisemitism. He founded two journals, ''Il Quadrivio'' in 1934 and '' La Difesa della Razza'' in 1938, both noted not only for their antisemitism but also for their admiration of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. Such was the strength of Interlandi's hatred of the

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s that he was personally told 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 ...

to moderate his language.Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 195 Interlandi continued to write following the establishment of the

Republic of Salò The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

, mainly for

's ''Vita Italiana'' journal. He also briefly served as propaganda chief for the

puppet state A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

. Following the war, he was not imprisoned but was deprived of his property and disappeared from public view. Although he had no direct involvement with the neo-fascist

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 ...

, his writings were an important ideological influence on

Giorgio Almirante Giorgio Almirante (27 June 1914 – 22 May 1988) was an Italian politician who founded the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, which he led until his retirement in 1987. Early life Almirante was born at Salsomaggiore Terme, in Emilia Rom ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Interlandi, Telesio 1894 births 1965 deaths 20th-century Italian journalists 20th-century Italian male writers Antisemitism in Italy Italian fascists Italian Fascist propagandists Italian magazine founders Italian male journalists Journalists from Sicily Writers from the Province of Ragusa