Mario Alverà

Mario Alverà (* 1882 in Venice ; † 1945) was Podestà of Venice from 1930 to 1938, i.e. not elected (Sindaco), but mayor appointed by the fascists .

Life

He studied law at the University of Padua . In 1930, Mario Alverà, a reliable supporter of Mussolini's fascist regime , took up the post of Podestà. The Venetian and merchant, born in 1882, was the socius of the Ratti family in their hardware store. In 1914 he was elected to the administration on the list of the moderate clerical group led by Grimani. There he played a role in the municipal economic institutions. He was one of the first to invest money in the company founded by Giuseppe Volpi in Porto Marghera . From 1922 he held important positions in the Chamber of Commerce, in 1928 he became President of the Economic Section in the Consiglio provinciale dell'economia and in the same year he became Sindaco of the Federazione provinciale des Partito Nazionale Fascista . He also retained access to Catholic circles, to important urban families, but also to the royal court.

In addition to the expansion of the railway bridge, which was decided on June 26, 1930, which was to connect Venice with the mainland, Alverà pursued other goals for Volpis. In 1930, the Consulta comunale , the body that replaced the city council under the fascists, consisted of 32 appointed people, including Vittorio Cini and Gino Damerini . The rest were business representatives and fascists. The Prefect Giovanni Bianchetti , who stayed in the city from July 1929 to September 1933, called for an end to the fruitless conflicts, others specifically called for the construction of the bridge to the mainland, a water supply via an aqueduct , a slaughterhouse and the strengthening of the tourist structures of the Lido .

But the first four years of Alverà's office were more characterized by the consolidation of the city budget, only the second four years saw the implementation of some projects. The change of direction took place within the fascist party with the appointment of Michele Pascolato as leader of the party and the appointment of the third Consulta municipale on January 30, 1935. At the same time they ended the era of Volpi's almost unrestricted rule over the city.

At first, however, the city had neither financial reserves nor sufficient access to the credit market, and there was also a lack of income. With the incorporation of Mestre , the income situation improved despite the consequences of the global economic crisis , but Porto Marghera, contrary to the promises of its supporters, brought little. The cost of the industrial zone on the mainland also far exceeded the income. In addition, Alverà could not assert itself against party interests when it came to the introduction of a tax list for the tax authorities or the costs of the hospitals. As projects, Alverà continued to pursue regulations on Mestre from 1934, the construction of the new slaughterhouse, the restoration of the canals, school buildings and the renovation of the historic center. In 1933 the Rio Nuovo was completed, which now extended from Piazzale Roma to the Grand Canal at Ca 'Foscari , then the wooden bridge at the Accademia . In 1934 the Ponte degli Scalzi , begun in 1932, was completed. Attempts were also made to tackle the serious problem of unemployment, the bureaucratisation and tertiarization of the city was criticized . In 1934 it was possible to present a balanced budget. However, an investigation led by Raffaello Vivante revealed that the living situation in the city was catastrophic. Alverà tried to address these problems with a special law with provisions “to save the lagunar and monumental character of Venice”.

Hitler and Mussolini in Venice, 1934

After Mussolini's (and Hitler's ) visit in June 1934, a casino was planned . In addition to the household, which stabilized, the Podestà succeeded in pushing back the dominant influence of Volpi, the “doge in the black shirt”. He had used his influence to turn the mainland into a raw industrial zone under the corporatist conditions of the regime, i.e. practically without representation of the interests of the workers, and at the same time from the historical center a de-industrialized cultural metropolis. After handing over the management of mainland affairs to Vittorio Cini in 1930 , he became President of the Biennale . The Festival of Contemporary Music, the Film Biennale (1932) and the Theater (1934) soon came into being.

In 1934 Volpi became president of the Federation of Industrialists. In 1934, on the other hand, the leaders of the fascist party changed again. Giorgio Suppiej was replaced by Michele Pascolato , who was born in Venice in 1907. Since 1921 a party member, he rose to the direttorio nazionale . The fascists could fall back on 8,500 members in the city, who were divided into 46 Fasci di combattimento and 15 sestiere groups, then 1,615 female fascists, 1,000 students and 8,000 young fascists. 179,852 people were registered in fascist corporations, which was 31% of the province's population. In 1934 Volpi was at the height of his power. He even controlled the fascists through the secretary Pascolato.

On January 30, 1935, Alverà's second podium began. Two vice-Podestà were appointed, of which Vilfredo Casellati was a partisan of Volpi, while Leonida Macciotta was a specialist in administrative law and an employee of the Rivista Amministrativa , and a new Consulta municipale , which consisted of 36 instead of 32 members. Of the previous advisors, only Domenico Ceccon, representative of the powerful Unione fascista dei commercianti, remained . In the new Consulta there were men like Vittorio Umberto Fantucci (he was planning to expand the bridge to the mainland) and Giorgio Suppiej, as well as party climbers like Giovanni Marcello , Paolo Foscari and Alessandro Brass . Other members, such as Michele Ricci, from Sindacato delle imprese elettriche , who represented the electrical companies, or Francesco Villabruna, President of the Unione provinciale fascista degli industriali , had the potential to form an antipole against the Volpians.

Alverà continued to pursue a balanced budget. Regulations on the gondoliers or the gas supply followed, and in 1936 he could hope to achieve his goal. In 1937, for example, he was able to lower taxes on consumer goods , but the basis for decision-making was more political than fiscal, because the budget was by no means balanced. In February 1935 the Fenice Theater was bought , and on June 30, 1936 the establishment of a casino was announced. In 1924, Davide Giordano , who was Podestà at the time, fought such an institution together with the curia.

Dino Alfieri and Joseph Goebbels in Venice, September 1936

The Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, under Volpi's direction, advocated the Lido as the location for the casino, because it owned a number of large hotels there. The Podestà, on the other hand, preferred a location in the old town. This led to violent disputes within the party. An attempt was made to agree on a winter location in the center and a summer location on the Lido. On August 1, 1936, the house opened in the Hotel Excelsior on the Lido, but Alverà continued to pursue his plans for the center.

As early as June 1936, the Ridotto , the 18th century casino, became an annex to the Palazzo Giustiniani . Around 2 million lire from the former Hotel Europa were announced for this in 1937. But now the counteroffensive of the Lido proponents began. The Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi tried to block the project through its advisor Alfredo Campione. Volpi's company offered the city part of the Excelsior at an extremely affordable price, while Vizepodestà Brass, at the meeting on January 20, 1937, demanded that the money earmarked for the casino be invested in horse racing tracks or a swimming pool to help the incumbent Podestà in To bring trouble. Mussolini ordered the location on the Lido a few days later.

The struggle within the party nevertheless continued. Relations between the Prefect, Senator Giuseppe Carlo Catalano and the Podestà were extremely tense. At the same time, the fascists' grip on the communes increased, Mussolini's party increasingly dominated society in the sense of totalitarianism, and an ideological offensive began. Accordingly, it increasingly demanded control over the expected income, and acted primarily in the sports and leisure sector, into which the corresponding funds flowed. Accordingly, propaganda was carried out there in the spirit of the fascists.

As long as Alverà was able to present an almost balanced budget, as in 1936, his position remained stable. But as early as 1937, revenues were falling, while spending increased, including those for the casino. An important tool for exerting influence that the fascists brought under their control was the list of poor to be supported. While only 32,000 Venetians were registered here in 1934, this number rose to 38,000 in the following year and even to 43,000 in 1937. This enabled the party to act as a benefactor.

In February 1938, Alessandro Brass was appointed Vice-Podestà, who had been President of the Ente sportivo fascista since 1928 . He emphasized the alleged bourgeoisisation of fascism, with which the attack on the Podestà began. Volpi finally acquired the most important daily newspaper, Il Gazzettino , in March 1939. Brass and a growing number of officials attacked Alverà because of the poor budget situation, and a report revealed the problematic situation. On August 14, 1938, the first attack against the Podestà in the Fascista regime , issued as a letter from Venice , appeared in the newspaper Roberto Farinacci , the party secretary, while the party leadership under Pascolato was praised. Now the Vice-Podestà asked the Prefect to protect the reputation of the Podestà, which corresponded to a barely claused demand for Alverà's removal. The fascist party, led by Lodovico Foscari since October 1937 , had already decided to replace Alverà with Giovanni Marcello, who was already considered the most important adversary of the Podestà.

Indeed, Giovanni Marcello was promoted to Podestà on September 5, 1938, and remained in office until January 9, 1941, when he resigned. He came from the San Polo branch of noble families, that is, that of the Marcello-Grimani. A few months later, on November 17th, the fascist race laws were passed.

literature

• Kate Ferris: Everyday Life in Fascist Venice, 1929-40 , Palgrave Macmillan 2012.

Notes and individual references

1. ^ Jan Andreas May, La Biennale di Venezia: Continuity and Change in Venetian Exhibition Policy, 1895–1948, p. 131
2. ↑ This and the following according to Renato Camurri: L'ottocento e il novecento 2 - La societa veneziana: La classe politica nazionalfascista , Storia di Venezia (2002), chapter 4.