Clara Petacci

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Clara Petacci
Clara Petacci.png
Born (1912-02-28)February 28, 1912
Rome, Italy
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Giulino di Mezzegra, Italy
Nationality Italian
Known for Being the mistress of Benito Mussolini
Relatives Miriam di San Servolo, sister

Clara Petacci, known as Claretta Petacci (Italian pronunciation: [klaˈretta peˈtattʃi]; 28 February 1912 – 28 April 1945) was the mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, and was executed with him by partisans.

Relationship with Mussolini

Petacci had a long-standing relationship with Mussolini while he was married to Rachele Mussolini. Mussolini was twenty-eight years Petacci's senior.[1]

Part of their correspondence is still the subject of a dispute with the National Archives, based on privacy.[2]

Death

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On 27 April 1945, Mussolini and Petacci were captured by Communist partisans while traveling with a convoy of Italian Social Republic members.[3]

On 28 April, she and Mussolini were taken to Mezzegra and shot. On the following day, 29 April, Mussolini's and Petacci's bodies were taken to the Piazzale Loreto in Milan and hung upside down in front of a petrol station. The bodies were photographed as a crowd vented their rage upon them.[4]

Family

  • Clara Petacci's sister was actress Miriam di San Servolo (31 May 1923 – 24 May 1991), also known as Miriam Petacci or Miriam Day.
  • Clara Petacci's brother, Marcello Petacci, was captured with Mussolini and Petacci. But, rather than being executed in Dongo, he was shot while trying to escape.
From left to right, the dead bodies of Bombacci, Mussolini, Clara Petacci, Pavolini and Starace in Piazzale Loreto, 1945

In popular culture

See also

References

  1. (Spanish) Giuseppina Persichetti, La enamorada de Mussolini, Madrid, Ediciones Caballero Audaz, 1947.
  2. (Italian) Giampiero Buonomo, Quel carteggio tra Mussolini e la Petacci. Storici sacrificati sull’altare della privacy, in Diritto e giustizia, 16 luglio 2005.
  3. Gunther Langes, Auf Wiedersehen Claretta. Il diario dell'uomo che poteva salvare Mussolini e la Petacci, a cura di Nico Pirozzi, Villaricca, Edizioni Cento Autori, 2012. ISBN 978-88-97121-37-4.
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Further reading

  • Nicholas Farrell, Mussolini: A New Life (Phoenix Press, London, 2003) ISBN 1-84212-123-5
  • Luciano Garibaldi, Mussolini: The Secrets of His Death (Enigma Books, New York, 2004) ISBN 1-929631-23-5
  • Ray Moseley, Mussolini: The Last 600 Days of Il Duce (Taylor Trade Publishing, Dallas, 2004) ISBN 1-58979-095-2
  • Rudolph S. Daldin "The Last Centurion" Volumes I&II ISBN 0-921447-34-5