Giorgio Almirante

Giorgio Almirante
File:Giorgio Almirante crop.jpg
President of the Italian Social Movement
In office 24 January 1988 – 22 May 1988
Preceded by	Nino Tripodi
Succeeded by	Alfredo Pazzaglia
Secretary of the Italian Social Movement
In office 29 June 1969 – 13 December 1987
Preceded by	Arturo Michelini
Succeeded by	Gianfranco Fini
In office 15 June 1947 – 15 January 1950
Preceded by	Giacinto Trevisonno
Succeeded by	Augusto De Marsanich
Member of the European Parliament for Southern Italy
In office 17 July 1979 – 22 May 1988
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 8 May 1948 – 22 May 1988
Constituency	Rome
Personal details
Born	(1914-06-27)27 June 1914 Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy
Died	Rome, Italy
Political party	National Fascist Party (1930s–1943) Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945) Italian Social Movement (1946–1988)
Spouse(s)	Gabriella Magnatti (m. 1930s; div. 1969) Assunta Almirante (m. 1969)
Children	2
Parents	Mario Almirante Rita Armaroli
Occupation	Journalist, politician
Military service
Allegiance	Italian Social Republic (1943–1945)
Service/branch	National Republican Guard
Years of service	1943–1945
Rank	Capomanipolo
Battles/wars	World War II Italian Campaign

Giorgio Almirante (27 June 1914 – 22 May 1988) was an Italian politician. A civil servant during the Italian Social Republic for which he held the position of head of cabinet at the Ministry of Popular Culture, he was a leading exponent of the First Republic holding the position of deputy from 1948 until his death.

After the war he was one of the founders of the Italian Social Movement, a party of which he was secretary between 1947 and 1950 and later between 1969 and 1987, supporting in 1972 the merger with monarchist exponents that led to the renaming of the party as Italian Social Movement — National Right.

Biography

Early life

Almirante was born at Salsomaggiore Terme, in Emilia Romagna, but his parents were Molisian with noble ancestry. Many of his relatives were actors. His father, Mario Almirante, an actor and stage director in Eleonora Duse's company — and in that of Ruggero Ruggeri — and later director of silent films, married Rita Armaroli. His grandfather Nunzio Almirante was also an actor, and his uncles Ernesto, Giacomo and Luigi were also actors. There were also family ties with Italia Almirante Manzini, a famous silent film diva.

Because of his father's job, Giorgio Almirante spent the first 10 years of his life travelling around Italy. After many vicissitudes, his family then settled in Turin and finally in Rome. His father worked in the film industry, as voice director for several films, including Limelight. Later, while working at Telesio Interlandi's newspaper, Giorgio Almirante was also involved in film criticism. In addition, he was briefly part of a student theatre company during his university years.

Pre-war Fascism and role during World War II

Parallel to his studies at the Classical Lyceum Vincenzo Gioberti in Turin, he began his career as a reporter for the fascist daily Il Tevere. In those years he joined the GUF in Rome and became its trustee; in the columns of Il Tevere he also publicised the activities and spirit of the fascist youth organisation. On 28 October 1932, the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution opened in Via Nazionale, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the March on Rome.

In these years Almirante's poltical was solidified, animated by a deep loyalty to Mussolini and Fascism, which he would sustain for the rest of his life. In 1937 Almirante graduated in literature with a thesis on the fortune of Dante Alighieri in 18th-century Italy under the Italianist Vittorio Rossi. His collaboration with Il Tevere continued over time; he became its editor-in-chief and remained with it until its closure in 1943. He carried out his professional activity during this period mainly in journalism and film.

From 1938 to 1942 he was secretary to the editorial board of the journal La Difesa della Razza, which came out following the publication of the Manifesto of Race in 1938. Almirante also helped to organise the Italian Social Republic (RSI) in which he was appointed Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Culture in 1944.

At the outbreak of the World War II, Almirante was sent as a reserve officer to Sardinia, but asked for and obtained a promotion as a war correspondent and left for Libya in the retinue of the Blackshirts' 1st Division "23 Marzo" and then participated in the North African campaign. He signed many articles that appeared in Il Tevere, abandoning the rhetorical style by switching to a drier and more concise prose, a must in his opinion in war reports. He was decorated with the War Cross of Military Valor for being among the first to enter Sallum and Sidi Barrani, but recalling the episode he never spoke of heroism or combat.

Italian Social Movement

Leadership

Following the defeat of fascism Almirante was indicted on charges that he ordered the shooting of partisans in 1944, although a general amnesty saw this lifted. He fled Italy after the war but returned in 1946 to set up his own small fascist group. It was quickly absorbed into the Italian Social Movement (MSI), which was set up the same year. Almirante was chosen as leader of the new party in part because of his low profile, as the higher-ranking members of the fascist regime involved in the MSI opted instead to take on behind the scenes roles. Representing a radical faction within the party, Almirante's group lost ground as more moderate elements gained influence in the party; this tendency soon gained the upper hand, forcing Almirante to give way to Augusto De Marsanich as leader in 1950. He had intimated his support for the Europe a nation ideas prevalent at the time but failed to convince the party to take a position against De Marsanich's pro-NATO policy.

Opposition

File:Almirante 1963.jpg

Almirante in 1963

During the mid-1950s Almirante, disquieted by the drift towards conservatism under De Marsanich and his successor Arturo Michelini, resigned his position on the National Council to become a critic of the leadership. He emphasised the proletarian origins of fascism against the new conservatism and argued for 'quality' rather than 'quantity' in government, endorsing expert-driven elites instead of liberal democracy. However, he stopped short of the route taken by the other leading dissident Pino Rauti by remaining within the party. Like Rauti, however, he became increasingly influenced in his thought by Julius Evola, even hailing the philosopher as "our Marcuse – only better".

In his role as leader of the internal opposition Almirante was not averse to employing the tactics of the Blackshirts, and indeed in 1968 he was one of three leaders of a 'punitive expedition' against student radicals at the Fine Arts Department at the University of Rome. However, Almirante and some 200 followers were routed and in the end were protected by the police.

Return to the leadership

Almirante regained the leadership of the party in 1969 following the death of Michelini. By now his own opinions had shifted somewhat towards a more moderate position as he soon declared his own support for democracy. On this basis he aimed to attract more conservative elements to the MSI, while simultaneously passing reforms that strengthened the power of the party secretary in order to pre-empt opposition from the radical tendency with which he had been associated. He also sought to 'historicise' fascism and dropped the more overt references to the ideology from MSI propaganda and rhetoric, notably shelving the black shirt and the Roman salute.

His new policy, known as the strategia del doppio binario (double track strategy), was not aimed at making the MSI more palatable to the Christian Democrats, as had been the plan of his predecessor, but rather to move the MSI into that party's ideological space and so challenge them directly for the leadership of the right. Almirante felt that by placing anti-communism at the heart of the MSI's appeal the party could attract both its existing followers and more moderate conservatives and could in time rival Christian Democrats as the main party of the right. As part of this policy he brought in a number of disparate rightist groups, merging the MSI with the Italian Democratic Party of Monarchist Unity, readmitting the hard-line splinter group Ordine Nuovo (New Order), and adding establishment figures such as Admiral Gino Birindelli and General Giovanni de Lorenzo as members. However, the policy floundered as the MSI made few inroads into Christian Democrat support and instead pushed the mainstream right towards an accommodation with the Italian Communist Party. As a consequence some of the moderate faction split off to form the National Democracy in 1977.

Despite the policy's failure to deliver at the ballot box, under Almirante's leadership the MSI did emerge to an extent from the political ghetto, a shift demonstrated in 1984 when Almirante was allowed to enter the headquarters of the Communist Party in order to pay respects to their dead leader Enrico Berlinguer, a gesture that had been unimaginable for an MSI leader. However, his newly moderate approach brought him into conflict with Rauti and clashes between the two became a feature of the annual party conference.

Almirante also served the MSI in parliament although he was stripped of parliamentary immunity three times: in 1979, he was charged with trying to revive the Fascist Party; and in 1981 and also in 1984, he was charged with aiding and abetting Carlo Cicuttini, who had fled Italy after a 1972 Peteano car bomb that killed three policemen. However, Almirante received amnesty under a 1987 law.

Retirement

Dogged by poor health, Almirante stepped down as leader at the 1987 National Congress and saw the leadership pass to his protégé Gianfranco Fini. Fini had been close to Almirante since 1977 when the MSI leader had Fini appointed chief of the MSI youth movement even though he had only finished seventh in the members vote. Fini largely followed in Almirante's footsteps of attempting to shift Italy from a parliamentary to a fully presidential system.

Almirante died in Rome on 22 May 1988, on the same weekend as his former colleagues and fellow Italian Fascist leaders Dino Grandi and Pino Romualdi. Grandi and Romualdi died on 21 May 1988, and Almirante died the following day.

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1948	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	15,501	Y Elected
1953	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	51,923	Y Elected
1958	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	49,828	Y Elected
1963	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	46,597	Y Elected
1968	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	54,200	Y Elected
1972	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	218,642	Y Elected
1976	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	123,331	Y Elected
1979	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	114,258	Y Elected
1979	European Parliament	Southern Italy		MSI	519,479	Y Elected
1983	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	129,375	Y Elected
1984	European Parliament	Southern Italy		MSI	503,881	Y Elected
1987	Chamber of Deputies	Rome–Viterbo–Latina–Frosinone		MSI	108,821	Y Elected

Works

• Il Movimento sociale italiano (1958; with Francesco Palamenghi-Crispi)
• Mezzasoma rievocato da Giorgio Almirante e da Fernando Feliciani (1959)
• Repubblica sociale italiana (1959; contributor)
• La verità sull'Alto Adige (1959; contributor)
• I due ventenni (1967)
• Processo al parlamento (1969)
• La destra avanza (1972)
• Il regime contro la destra (1973)
• Autobiografia di un fucilatore (1973)
• Complotto di regime contro la destra nazionale. Relazione del segretario nazionale Giorgio Almirante alla direzione del partito, 28-29 aprile 1973 (1973)
• "Processo alla libertà". Il testo integrale del discorso pronunciato alla Camera il 23 maggio dall'onorevole Giorgio Almirante (1973)
• Salvare la scuola dal comunismo (1974)
• La strategia del terrorismo (1974)
• L'alternativa corporativa (1974)
• Interventi al 4º corso aggiornamento politico per dirigenti del Fronte della Gioventù. Roma-Ostia, 19-22 sett. 1974 (1975)
• Per l'unità delle forze anticomuniste in difesa della liberta di tutti gli italiani. Relazione al comitato centrale del MSI-DN, 29-30 luglio 1975 (1975)
• Intervista sull'eurodestra (1978; edited by Michele Rallo)
• Carlo Borsani (1979; with Carlo Borsani Jr.)
• Robert Brasillach (1979)
• Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera (1980)
• Processo alla Repubblica (1980)
• Pena di morte? (1981)
• Francesco Giunta e il fascismo triestino, 1918-1925. Dalle origini alla conquista del potere (1983; with Sergio Giacomelli)
• Trieste nel periodo fascista, 1925-1943 (1986; with Sergio Giacomelli)
• Tra Hitler e Tito. Trieste nella R.S.I. di Mussolini 1943-1945 (1987)
• Discorsi parlamentari (2008)

References

Almirante, Pasquale (2016). Da Pasquale a Giorgio Almirante. Storia di una famiglia d'arte. Venezia: Marsilio.

Calabrò, Domenico (2005). Giorgio, la mia fiamma. Assunta Almirante racconta. Roma: Koinè nuove edizioni.

Barca, Vincenzo (1998). Giorgio Almirante e il Trentino-Alto Adige. Trento: Il grifone.

Biagini, Antonello (1978). "Almirante, Giorgio." In: Enciclopedia Italiana, IV Appendice. Roma: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.

Borsato, Felice (2004). Almirante è ancora attuale? Roma: Nuove Idee.

Borsato, Felice (2008). Giorgio Almirante. La Destra parlava così. Roma: Nuove Idee.

Caprara, Mario; Gianluca Semprini (2011). Neri, la storia mai raccontata della destra radicale, eversiva e terrorista. Roma: Edizioni tascabili Newton.

Franchi, Franco (1974). Una congiura giudiziaria. L'autorizzazione a procedere contro Almirante. Milano: Edizioni del borghese.

Franchi, Franco (2004). Giorgio Almirante. Un protagonista contro corrente. Roma: Koinè nuove edizioni.

Ignazi, Piero (1989). Il polo escluso. Profilo del Movimento Sociale Italiano. Bologna: Il Mulino.

La Russa, Vincenzo (2009). Giorgio Almirante. Da Mussolini a Fini. Milano: Mursia.

Parlato, Giuseppe (2020). "Almirante, Giorgio." In: Dizionario biografico degli italiani. Roma: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana.

Servello, Franco (2008). Almirante. Con un saggio di Gennaro Malgieri su Pino Romualdi. Rubbettino: Soveria Mannelli.

Zannoni, Massimo (2012). La stampa nella Repubblica Sociale Italiana. Parma: Edizioni Campo di Marte.

External links

• Biography and photo Archived 5 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine

Party political offices
New political party	Secretary of the Italian Social Movement 1946–1950	Succeeded by Augusto De Marsanich
Preceded by Arturo Michelini	Secretary of the Italian Social Movement 1969–1987	Succeeded by Gianfranco Fini
European Parliament
New parliament	Member of the European Parliament for Southern Italy 1979–1988	Succeeded by Title jointly held
Italian Chamber of Deputies
New parliament	Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Legislatures: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X 1948–1988	Succeeded by Title jointly held