Editing Roberto Farinacci

{{short description|Italian fascist politician (1892–1945)}}
{{redirect|Farinacci}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name             = Roberto Farinacci
| image            = Roberto Farinacci 1930.jpg
| office1          = [[List of Secretaries of the National Fascist Party|Secretary]] of the [[National Fascist Party]]
| term_start1      = 15 February 1925
| term_end1        = 30 March 1926
| predecessor1     = ''[[Quadrumvirate]]''
| successor1       = [[Augusto Turati]]
| office2          = Member of the [[Chamber of Deputies (Italy)|Chamber of Deputies]]
| term_start2      = 11 June 1921
| term_end2        = 5 August 1943
| constituency2    = [[at-large]]
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1892|10|16|df=y}}
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1945|4|28|1892|10|16|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Isernia]], [[Kingdom of Italy]]
| death_place      = [[Vimercate]], Italian Social Republic 
| death_cause      = [[Executed by firing squad]]
| party            = [[Italian Reformist Socialist Party|PSRI]] (1914–1919)<br>[[Fasci Italiani di Combattimento|FIC]] (1919–1921)<br>[[National Fascist Party|PNF]] (1921–1943)<br>[[Republican Fascist Party|PFR]] (1943–1945)
| otherparty       = 
| height           = {{convert|1.74|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| spouse           = {{marriage|Anita Bertolazzi|1910}}
| profession       = [[Journalist]], [[soldier]]
<!-- Military service. -->
| allegiance       = {{flag|Kingdom of Italy}}
| branch           = {{army|Kingdom of Italy}}<br>[[File:Coat of arms of the Italian Air Force.svg|25px]] [[Italian Air Force]]
| serviceyears     = 1916–1917; 1936
| rank             = {{plainlist|
* [[Flight lieutenant]]
* [[Corporal]]}}
| unit             = 3rd Telegraphist Regiment<br>[[Blackshirts]]
| battles          = {{plainlist|
* [[First World War]]
* [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]]}}
}}
'''Roberto Farinacci''' ({{IPA|it|roˈbɛrto fariˈnattʃi}}; 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 historian [[Christopher Hibbert]] describes him as "slavishly pro-German".

== Early life ==
Born in [[Isernia]], [[Molise]], Farinacci was raised in poverty and dropped out of school at a young age, moving to [[Cremona]] and beginning working on a railroad there in 1909. Farinacci described himself as Catholic.<ref>book: The Pope at War: The Secret History of Pius XII, Mussolini, and Hitler, author: David I. Kertzer  page: 230</ref> Around this time period, he became an [[Italia irredenta|irredentist]] [[Socialism|socialist]] and a major advocate of Italy's participation in the war when [[World War I]] began. After the war, Farinacci was an ardent supporter of [[Benito Mussolini]] and his [[fascist movement]]. He subsequently established himself as the ''[[Ethiopian aristocratic and religious titles|Ras]]'' (local leader, a title borrowed from the [[Ethiopia]]n aristocracy) of the Fascists in Cremona, publishing the newspaper ''Cremona Nuova'' (later on ''Il Regime Fascista'') and organizing [[Blackshirts]] combat squads in 1919. The Cremona squads were amongst the most brutal in Italy and Farinacci effectively used them to terrorize the population into submission to Fascist rule. In 1922, Farinacci appointed himself mayor of Cremona.

== Prominence ==
Quickly rising as one of the most powerful members of the [[National Fascist Party]], gathering around him a large number of supporters, Farinacci came to represent the most radical [[Fascist syndicalism|syndicalist faction]] of the party, one that thought Mussolini to be a too [[Liberalism in Italy|liberal]] leader (likewise, Mussolini believed Farinacci was too violent and irresponsible). Among Fascists, Farinacci was known to be particularly [[anti-clerical]], [[xenophobic]] and [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]]. Nevertheless, Farinacci's career continued to rise and played a considerable role in establishing Fascist dominance over Italy during and after the 1922 [[March on Rome]].

In 1925, Farinacci became the second most powerful man in the country when Mussolini appointed him secretary of the party. He was used by Mussolini to centralize the party and then to purge it of thousands of its radical members. Then, Farinacci was removed. He disappeared from the limelight, practicing law for much of the late 1920s and early 1930s. In a 1929 ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' article, Farinacci was nicknamed the "[[castor oil]] man" of Fascism, based on his forcing of opponents of Fascism to swallow castor oil which he called the "golden nectar of nausea".<ref>{{cite news|title=Black Farinacci|date=4 February 1929|work=[[Time Magazine]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,737257,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027214640/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,737257,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 27, 2010|access-date=10 August 2008}}</ref> The effects of swallowing castor oil would cause the victims to suffer severe diarrhea followed by dehydration.<ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_028.html The Straight Dope: Did Mussolini use castor oil as an instrument of torture?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The ''Time'' article also claims that as secretary of the party he allowed the murderers of [[Italian Socialist Party]] deputy [[Giacomo Matteotti]] to be let free in 1926.<ref>{{cite news|title=Black Farinacci|date=4 February 1929|work=[[Time Magazine]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,737257,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027214640/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,737257,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 27, 2010|access-date=10 August 2008}}</ref>

In 1935, Farinacci fought in the [[Second Italo-Abyssinian War]] as a member of the ''[[Blackshirts|Voluntary Militia for National Security]]'' (MVSN), the new official name of the Blackshirts, eventually attaining the rank of [[lieutenant general]]. He lost his right hand fishing with a [[hand grenade]] near [[Dessie]], an incident for which [[Ettore Muti]] ironically nicknamed him "''Martin pescatore''" ([[kingfisher]]). In the same year, Farinacci joined the [[Grand Council of Fascism]] and returned to national prominence. In 1937, Farinacci participated in the [[Spanish Civil War]] and in 1938 became a governmental minister and enforced the antisemitic [[racial segregation]] measures declared by Mussolini.

== In World War II ==
[[File:Votazione odg Grandi.jpg|thumb|left|200px|The outcome of a vote of [[Grand Council of Fascism]] in which Farinacci voted against]]
When [[World War II]] began, Farinacci sided with [[Nazi Germany]]. He frequently communicated with the [[Nazi Party|Nazis]] and became one of Mussolini's advisors on Italy's dealings with Germany. For his part, Farinacci urged Mussolini to enter Italy into the war as a member of the [[Axis powers|Axis]]. In 1941, Farinacci became Inspector of the Militia in Italian-occupied [[Albania]].

In July 1943, Farinacci took part in the [[Grand Council of Fascism]] meeting which led to [[25 Luglio|Mussolini's downfall]]. While the majority of the council voted to force Mussolini out of the government, Farinacci did not side against him. After [[Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy|Mussolini's arrest]], Farinacci fled to Germany in order to escape arrest.

The Nazi hierarchy considered putting Farinacci in charge of a German-backed Italian government in Northern Italy (the [[Italian Social Republic]]), but he was passed over in favor of Mussolini when the latter was rescued by [[Otto Skorzeny]] in September through the raid known as [[Unternehmen Eiche]]. Afterwards, Farinacci went back to Cremona without taking active part in political life. However, he did continue to write politically oriented articles. He also funded the journal ''Crociata Italica'', the main organ of a small group of [[Clerical fascism|clerical fascist]] priests led by Don Tullio Calcagno. 

[[File:Roberto Farinacci 1945.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Farinacci's execution]] In the morning of 26 April 1945, in the closing days of World War II, Farinacci fled Cremona and headed towards [[Valtellina]], along with a small group of Fascist diehards. Near [[Bergamo]] he parted from the main column and headed towards [[Vimercate]] along with [[marquise]] Maria Carolina Vidoni Soranzo, secretary of the female Fasces, whose sister owned a [[villa]] there. On 27 April their car ran into a [[Italian resistance movement|partisan]] patrol near [[Brivio]] and refused to stop, resulting in a shootout in which the driver was killed and Marquise Vidoni Soranzo was mortally wounded. The uninjured Farinacci was captured along with twelve [[suitcase]]s, filled with money and [[Gemstone|jewels]]; he was brought to the [[town hall]] of Vimercate and  tried by a partisan court. He demanded to be brought to Cremona, claiming that "''there they will tell you that I did good and that I must be released''", and contesting all accusations against him; there was some indecision about the sentence, as the representatives of the [[Christian Democracy (Italy)|Christian Democracy]] and of the [[Italian Liberal Party]] wanted to hand him over to the Allies, whereas those of the [[Italian Communist Party]] and of the [[Italian Socialist Party]] wanted to execute him. In the end he was [[sentenced to death]] and executed by [[firing squad]] in the main square of Vimercate on 28 April 1945. The partisans wanted to shoot him in the back, but at last second he turned and was thus shot in the chest, reportedly shouting "Long live Italy".<ref>Guido Gerosa, ''I gerarchi di Mussolini'', p. 117</ref><ref>Giordano Bruno Guerri, ''Fascisti: Gli italiani di Mussolini, il regime degli italiani'', p. 115</ref><ref>Giuseppe Pardini, ''Roberto Farinacci. Ovvero della rivoluzione fascista'', p. 459</ref>

In the [[Florestano Vancini]]'s film ''[[The Assassination of Matteotti]]'' (1973), Farinacci is played by Max Dorian. Together with [[Giovanni Preziosi]], Farinacci was one of the most prominent Fascist voices of [[racial antisemitism]] during the [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Mussolini regime]].<ref>Kertzer, David I., The Popes Against the Jews, 283</ref><ref>De Felice (1993), ''passim''</ref>

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{cite book|last=De Felice|first=Renzo|author-link=Renzo De Felice|title=Storia degli ebrei italiani sotto il fascismo|year=1993|publisher=Einaudi|location=Turin|edition=4|isbn=8806172794|language=it}}

== External links ==
* {{PM20|FID=pe/004979}}
* {{DBI|url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/roberto-farinacci_(Dizionario-Biografico)|first=Giuseppe|last=Sircana|title=FARINACCI, Roberto|volume=45}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Farinacci, Roberto}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
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[[Category:People from Isernia]]
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[[Category:Italian people of the Spanish Civil War]]
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