Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini

He was born on July 29th 1883 in the province of Forli, Romagna, Italy. He was the son of a socialist blacksmith His first name was in honor of the Mexican reformist Benito Juárez and his second names were in honor of socialists Andrea Costa and Amilcare Cipriani. He was the eldest of three children.

His parents thought he was mute because he started to talk very late. He became a conflictive boy and was expelled from school for having cut a classmate with a dagger.

Mussolini became atheist like his father. He fled to Switzerland in order not to do the military service and joined a socialist militia. However, he was arrested and was sent back to Italy. He finally did the military service in Verona.

He married Rachele Guidi in 1910 and had 5 children. He belonged to the Socialist Party at first, but he later founded his own party (Italian Fasci of Combat) on December 11th 1914.

After the march on Rome, Victor Emmanuel III told Mussolini to form a government in October 1922. He became the youngest prime minister in Italy’s history. He exercised power in parliament until January 1925, when he proclaimed himself Dictator. He was known as «Il Duce», he maintained a capitalist system and implemented more social services, however, he abolished labor unions and the right to demonstrations.

Mussolini didn’t want to enter World War II, however he finally joined Germany because of Hitler’s recent victories, but he was defeated several times and was overthrown from power on July 25th 1943. At the end of the war, the Italian Resistence captured and executed Mussolini and his lover (Carla Petacci), and their bodies were exposed in Milan on April 28th and 29th 1945.

 

Sources:

http://departments.kings.edu/history/20c/fascism.html

http://www.buscabiografias.com/biografia/verDetalle/715/Benito%20Mussolini

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasci_Italiani_di_Combattimento

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini

http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/benito-mussolini