Cesare Maria De Vecchi
Encyclopedia
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
di Val Cismon
Primiero
The Primiero is a valley located in the eastern part of Trentino, Italy. It consists of eight municipalities : Canal San Bovo, Fiera di Primiero, Imer, Mezzano, Sagron Mis, Siròr, Tonadico and Transacqua.-References:...
(14 November 1884 - June 23, 1959) was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
soldier, colonial administrator and Fascist politician.
Biography
De Vecchi was born in Casale MonferratoCasale Monferrato
Casale Monferrato, population 36,058, is a town and comune in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, part of the province of Alessandria. It is situated about 60 km east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrato hills. Beyond the river lies the...
on 14 November 1884. After graduating in jurisprudence
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
he became a successful lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. His stance on the First World War was interventionist, and he himself took part in the final events of the conflict. On his return to Italy he gave his support to the National Fascist Party
National Fascist Party
The National Fascist Party was an Italian political party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of fascism...
, in which he would consistently represent the monarchical and ‘moderate’ wing. He became president of the Turin war veterans and head of the local Fascist squadre
Squadrismo
Squadrismo was the use of violence by Italian Fascist gangs from 1918 - 1922. Squadrismo consisted of fascist squads who were led by the Ras...
. In 1921, he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies
Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Italian Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Parliament of Italy. It has 630 seats, a plurality of which is controlled presently by liberal-conservative party People of Freedom. Twelve deputies represent Italian citizens outside of Italy. Deputies meet in the Palazzo Montecitorio. A...
.
De Vecchi became Commander General of the Milizia (see Blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
), was one of the quadrumvirs
Quadrumvirs
The quadrumvirs were a group of four leaders that led Benito Mussolini's March on Rome in October 1922. They were all actively involved in the Fascist party under Mussolini and had been actively been involved in politics and/or war for many years leading up to the Fascist dictatorship.- Members...
who organised the March on Rome
March on Rome
The March on Rome was a march by which Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party came to power in the Kingdom of Italy...
, and sought to persuade Antonio Salandra
Antonio Salandra
Antonio Salandra was a conservative Italian politician who served as the 33rd Prime Minister of Italy between 1914 and 1916...
to enter into Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
’s government. He himself became Undersecretary at the Treasury and then at the Finance Ministry. In December 1922 he inspired the squadre of Brandimarte to the 1922 Turin Massacre
1922 Turin Massacre
The 1922 Turin Massacre refers to the attack by Italian Fascists against members of a local labour movement in Turin, Italy. The events began in Turin after Fascists raided and burned down of a trade union headquarters and attacks on two clubs of the Italian Socialist Party...
(Strage di Torino) and he become known as the most important of the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
ese squadristi.
From 1923 to 1928, De Vecchi was governor of Italian Somaliland
Italian Somaliland
Italian Somaliland , also known as Italian Somalia, was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy from the 1880s until 1936 in the region of modern-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th century by the Somali Sultanate of Hobyo and the Majeerteen Sultanate, the territory was later acquired by Italy through various...
, a role which took him away from the centre of the Italian political scene. He was made Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
of Val Cismon
Primiero
The Primiero is a valley located in the eastern part of Trentino, Italy. It consists of eight municipalities : Canal San Bovo, Fiera di Primiero, Imer, Mezzano, Sagron Mis, Siròr, Tonadico and Transacqua.-References:...
(in memory of the battles fought by his arditi
Arditi
Arditi was the name adopted by Italian Army elite storm troops of World War I. The name derives from the Italian verb Ardire and translates as "The Daring Ones"....
on Monte Grappa in 1918). He was appointed Senator by King Victor Emmanuel III. He became the first ambassador to the Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
after the Concordat of 1929. Between 1935 and 1936 he was national Minister of Education: as such he promoted a historiography which identified the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
as the link between Imperial Rome and the Rome of Fascism, and also worked for the centralisation of the administration of the school system.
From 1936 to 1940, De Vecchi acted as governor of the Italian Aegean Islands
Italian Aegean Islands
The Italian Dodecanese, formally known as Italian Aegean Islands , were a group of twelve major islands in the Aegean Sea, off the southwest coast of Turkey, which belonged to the Kingdom of Italy from 1912 to 1947.-Background:The Dodecanese was occupied by Italy during the Italo-Turkish War of 1912...
promoting the official use of the Italian language. In the following year he was appointed to the Grand Council of Fascism
Grand Council of Fascism
The Grand Council of Fascism was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy. A body which held and applied great power to control the institutions of government, it was created as a party body in 1923 and became a state body on 9 December 1928....
and on 25 July 1943, he voted in favour of Dino Grandi
Dino Grandi
Dino Grandi , Conte di Mordano, was an Italian Fascist politician, minister of justice, minister of foreign affairs and president of parliament.- Early life :...
’s order of the day which deposed Benito Mussolini of his role as Fascist Duce
Duce
Duce is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word dux, and cognate with duke. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as Il Duce of the movement and became a reference to the dictator position of Head of Government and Duce of Fascism of Italy was established...
(leader). As a result, he was condemned to death in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
during the Verona trial conducted under the auspices of the Italian Social Republic
Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...
(Repubblica Sociale Italiana, or RSI). But thanks to the support of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, he was able to escape to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
on a Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
an passport.
After returning to Italy in 1949, De Vecchi supported the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement (Movimento Sociale Italiano, or MSI) together with Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli , was an officer in the Italian Regio Esercito who led military expeditions in Africa before and during World War II.-Rise to prominence:...
. However, he refused to accept any political or institutional office within the MSI.
Cesare Maria De Vecchi died in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1959.