Giuseppe Bottai | |
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Giuseppe Bottai as Minister of Education, 1937
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Minister of National Education | |
In office 15 November 1936 – 5 February 1943 |
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Prime Minister | Benito Mussolini |
Preceded by | Cesare Maria De Vecchi |
Succeeded by | Carlo Alberto Biggini |
Governor of Addis Ababa | |
In office 5 May 1936 – 27 May 1936 |
|
Monarch | Victor Emmanuel III |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | Alfredo Siniscalchi |
Governor of Rome | |
In office 23 January 1935 – 15 November 1936 |
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Preceded by | Francesco Boncompagni Ludovisi |
Succeeded by | Piero Colonna |
Member of the Chamber of Fasci and Corporations | |
In office 20 April 1929 – 5 August 1943 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Rome, Italy |
3 September 1895
Died | 9 January 1959 Rome, Italy |
(aged 63)
Political party |
Italian Fasci of Combat (1919–1921) National Fascist Party (1921–1943) |
Alma mater | Sapienza University of Rome |
Profession | Journalist, soldier |
Religion | Deism |
Military service | |
Allegiance |
Kingdom of Italy Free France |
Service/branch |
Royal Italian Army French Foreign Legion |
Years of service | 1915–1917; 1935–1936; 1943–1948 |
Rank | |
Unit | 1st Cavalry Regiment (France) |
Battles/wars |
Giuseppe Bottai (3 September 1895 – 9 January 1959) was an Italian journalist, and member of the National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini.
Born in Rome, Giuseppe was son of Luigi, a wine dealer with republican sympathies, and Elena Cortesia. He was gratuated at Liceo Torquato Tasso, and attended to the Sapienza University of Rome until the 1915, when Italy declared war to the Central Powers: in the same year he left his studies to enlist himself in the Italian Royal Army. Hurted in battle, he obtained a Medal of Military Valor after the World War I.
In 1919, Bottai met Benito Mussolini during a Futurist meeting, and contributed to establish the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento ("Italian Fasci of Combat"). In 1921, Bottai ended his studies at law faculty and became a freemason, member of the Gran Loggia d'Italia. In the same time he also started a journalist career in the Il Popolo d'Italia, newspaper of the recently-founded National Fascist Party. During the March on Rome, Bottai was along with Ulisse Igliori and Gino Calza-Bini, the head of the Roman squadrismo, supporting Blackshirts' political violence.
After 1921 election, Bottai was elected in the Chamber of Deputies for the National Blocs, but was removed for his young age. He returned to the Chamber in 1924, maintaining the office until 1943. In 1923, he became leader of the intransigent, national syndicalist and revolutionary faction of the Fascism. To support his ideas, Bottai founded Critica fascista ("Fascist Critic"), a cultural periodical, co-operating with other leftist fascists like Filippo De Pisis, Renato Guttuso and Mario Mafai. Bottai worked to the Ministry of Corporations, introducing the Labour Charter and planning a "Corporative Academic Pole" in Pisa, from 1926 to 1932, when he was excluded by Mussolini from the Ministry. In 1933, Bottai established and chaired the National Institute of the Social Security (Italian: Istituto nazionale della previdenza sociale, INPS). After, he was appointed Fascist Governor of Rome (1935–1936) but resigned to fight in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War with the rank of major. In 5 May 1936, Bottai and Pietro Badoglio entered in Addis Abeba, and Bottai was appointed as City Governor. After the war, Bottai returned in Rome to be Education Minister. During his ministry, Bottai proclaim a law (socalled "Bottai Law") on public and cultural heritage safeguard and natural beauties preservation. He also co-worked with art critics Giulio Carlo Argan and Cesare Brandi to improve the Italian cultural life.