Rosa Maltoni or Rosa Maltoni-Mussolini (1858-1905) was the mother of Italian Fascist

Italian Fascism

Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...

 founder and leader 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....

. Maltoni was a devoutly Catholic schoolteacher who married Alessandro Mussolini

Alessandro Mussolini

Alessandro Mussolini was the father of Italian Fascist founder and leader Benito Mussolini. He was an Italian revolutionary socialist activist with Italian nationalist sympathies. Mussolini was a blacksmith by profession. Mussolini was married to Rosa Maltoni, a schoolteacher, who became the...

. After Benito, Rosa had two more children, Arnaldo and Edvige. She died of meningitis

Meningitis

Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...

in 1905.

Mussolini was reportedly very attached to his mother, and during the Fascist period, Rosa came to represent the ideal Italian woman. On June 17, 1930, a ceremony was held to honor her as a "great educator and glorious mother."