Emilio De Bono

Emilio De Bono (before 1932)

Emilio De Bono (born March 19, 1866 in Cassano d'Adda , province of Milan , † January 11, 1944 in Verona ) was an Italian general and fascist politician . Since 1935 he was the holder of the title " Marshal of Italy ".

As a member of the Quadrumvirate , De Bono was one of the leading military leaders in the fascist march on Rome . 1923 to 1924 he became the first general commander of the fascist militia MVSN . From 1925 to 1929 he was Governor General of the Colony of Tripolitania and from 1929 to 1935 Italian Colonial Minister. As one of the leading military and politicians of fascist Italy during the wars in Libya (1923–32) and Abyssinia (1935–36) , De Bono played a central role in the war crimes committed there .

Life

After his training at the military academy in Modena , he became an officer in the Bersaglieri troops. He took part in the Italo-Turkish War from 1912 and then in the First World War, during which he was wounded and awarded several times.

At the end of the war in 1918 he was the commanding general of the IX. Army Corps of the 4th Army under Lieutenant General Gaetano Giardino on the Grappa section.

After the war he became one of the co-founders of the Fascist Party and took part in the March on Rome in 1922 as the oldest “Quadrumvir” . After the fascist seizure of power, Mussolini appointed him police chief and head of the fascist militia (" black shirts "). He was jointly responsible for the murder of the socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti .

From 1925 to 1928 he held the office of governor of Tripolitania , after which Mussolini appointed him Minister for the Italian Colonies . As commander in chief of the Italian troops in the Abyssinian War, he was deposed shortly after the war began because of his hesitations. Pietro Badoglio then brought the operations to a successful conclusion.

At the beginning of the Second World War , he spoke out against Italian entry into the war on Germany's side . On July 25, 1943, he voted against Mussolini in the Grand Fascist Council , whereupon the fascist regime collapsed. Mussolini's northern Italian Repubblica Sociale Italiana sentenced him to death in the Verona show trial for high treason . Emilio De Bono was executed by firing squad in Verona on January 11, 1944, along with former Foreign Minister Ciano and other former party leaders .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Richard JB Bosworth: Mussolini's Italy. Life Under the Fascist Dictatorship, 1915-1945. Penguin Books, New York NY et al. 2006, ISBN 0-14-303856-7 , p. 514.

Web links

Commons : Emilio De Bono  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Emilio De Bono in the catalog of the German National Library
• Newspaper article about Emilio De Bono in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
• Entry on senato.it