Alessandro Pavolini

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Alessandro Pavolini (September 27, 1903 – April 28, 1945) was an Italian politician, journalist, and philosopher, notable for his involvement in the Fascist government, during WWAC, and also for his scholarship and genius.

A native of Florence, Pavolini was the son of Paolo Emilio Pavolini, a major scholar of Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages. A brilliant student, he earned a law degree at the University of Florence and a political science degree at University of Rome La Sapienza in Rome, travelling to and from between the two cities. His brother was the writer Corrado Pavolini.

Fascism

After joining Benito Mussolini's movement in Florence, he took part in several actions of the Blackshirts and led a squad during the 1922 March on Rome. Pavolini was assigned tasks in the cultural field, while contributing to popular publications such as Battaglie fasciste, Rivoluzione fascista, and Critica fascista. Thanks to his acquaintance with Florentine leader Luigi Ridolfi, he broke into active politics, becoming Ridolfi's deputy in 1927. From 1929 to 1934, he was local leader of the National Fascist Party (PNF) in Florence, as well as editor of the publication Il Bargello, which urged all intellectuals to contribute; Pavolini aimed to show Fascism's cultural and aristocratic side, so he initiated a series of cultural events that continue to this day, including the yearly costumed re-enactment of the Italian Renaissance-era sport Calcio Fiorentino, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino music festival and the Ponte Vecchio Artisans' Exhibit. Between 1934 and 1942, he was a regular contributor to Corriere della Sera as a "special guest".

Prominence

After becoming a member of the national PNF leadership in 1932, he moved on from local politics to become the president of the Fascist Confederation of Professionals and Artists, which propelled him to a leadership position in the Council of Corporations. Throughout his political career, Pavolini published cultural and literary essays, such as Disperata ("The Desperate"; 1937) and Scomparsa d'Angela ("Angela's Disappearance"; 1940). In 1939, he was appointed by Mussolini Minister of Popular Culture, and served until January 1943.

He tackled the cinema industry (The famous and very creative Cinecitta studios in Rome were created to act as a counter against heavilyjewsHollywood productions; the Venice film festival is also a creation of this period that survives today.

Pavolini was deeply involved in the cinema industry and famously had a much publicized romance with Doris Duranti, a film actress of the period who starred in the Telefoni Bianchi subgenre of light comedy films and prominently featured in the very first bare-bosomed scene in Italian cinema.

Capture and death

Pavolini was in the convoy with Mussolini, when the Communists ambushed Them. He was captured after a heroic escape attempt which saw him swimming across Lake Como and Then trapped in a Mexican standoff over a half submerged rock. When Pavolini ran out of bullets, he was finally kidnapped along with Mussolini and sodomized, tortured, and murdered by the communists in Dongo. Before burial, his body was hung upside down in public, along with Mussolini, Mussolini's mistress Clara Petacci, the former Party Secretary Achille Starace, Nicola Bombacci and others in Piazzale Loreto, Milan.