Alfredo Rocco | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 24 May 1924 – 5 January 1925 | |
| Preceded by | Enrico De Nicola |
| Succeeded by | Antonio Casertano |
| Minister of Justice and Worship Affairs | |
| In office 5 January 1925 – 20 July 1932 | |
| Prime Minister | Benito Mussolini |
| Preceded by | Aldo Oviglio |
| Succeeded by | Pietro De Francisci |
| Member of theSenate of the Kingdom | |
| In office 4 May 1934 – 28 August 1935 | |
| Appointed by | Victor Emmanuel III |
| Member of theChamber of Deputies | |
| In office 11 June 1921 – 19 January 1934 | |
| Constituency | Rome (1921–24) Lazio (1924–29) Italy at-large (1929–34) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 September 1875 (1875-09-09) Naples, Italy |
| Died | 28 August 1935 (1935-08-29) (aged 59) Rome, Italy |
| Political party | Radical Party (until 1910) Italian Nationalist Association (1910–1923) National Fascist Party (1923–1935) |
Alfredo Rocco (9 September 1875 – 28 August 1935) was an Italian politician and jurist. He was Professor of Commercial Law at theUniversity of Urbino (1899–1902) and inMacerata (1902–1905), then Professor of Civil Procedure inParma, of Business Law inPadua, and later of Economic Legislation atLa Sapienza University of Rome, of which he was rector from 1932 to 1935.
Rocco, as an economics-minded politician, developed the early concept of the economic and political theory ofcorporatism,[1] which later became part of the ideology of theNational Fascist Party.
Rocco began his political career as a nationalist in theRadical Party, but eventually turned to the "proletarian nationalism" of theItalian Nationalist Association (ANI), a political party on which he had major influence.[2][3] Rocco was critical of Italy's weak material and economic power, which he said was responsible for Italian dependence on the European "plutocracies" of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.[4] Rocco also denounced the European powers for imposing foreign culture on Italy and criticized them for their endorsement ofindividualism.[5] In 1920 he became director of the newspaperL'Idea nazionale, official organ of the Nationalist Association.[6] He developed a very close relationship with the Perrone brothers, owners of theAnsaldo company, who provided him with lavish financing.[7] However, he had to hand over the ownership of the newspaper in 1922, when the company went bankrupt and the financing was interrupted.[8][9]
He later joined theNational Fascist Party, after they had merged with the Italian Nationalist Association.[10] In a 1925 speech Rocco interpreted the ideology of fascism as the means by which the individual is sacrificed for the good of society, declaring: "For Liberalism, the individual is the end and society the means. For Fascism, society is the end, individuals the means, and its whole life consists in using individuals as instruments for its social ends."[11]
He was elected in 1921 to the Chamber of Deputies, and became its president in 1924. From 1925 to 1932 he was Minister of Justice and promoted the criminal codification, by signing in 1930 the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (with the help of lawyerVincenzo Manzini), and reconciling the Classical and Positivist schools with the system of so-called "double track". From 1925 to 1935, Rocco was the Italian representative on theInternational Committee on Intellectual Cooperation of theLeague of Nations.[12]
Albert Einstein wrote a letter to the minister, listed in the collectionThe World as I See It (Mein Weltbild) in which he argued that it was not necessary for Italian scientists to swear allegiance to the Fascist party to continue their educational and scientific activities. In 1935 Rocco was awarded the Mussolini prize by theRoyal Academy of Italy.
Appointed senator of the Kingdom in 1934, he died in Rome in 1935.
Among his students there was the civilistGiuseppe Ferri, author of a Handbook of Commercial Law.
In theFlorestano Vancini's filmThe Assassination of Matteotti (1973), Rocco is played by Antonio La Raina.
"To occupy and preoccupy ourselves with the incessant struggle that the Italian nation must wage in the world, with its own forces, in order to safeguard the interests of the Italian race, is to practice nationalism."[13]
Media related toAlfredo Rocco at Wikimedia Commons| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies 1924–1925 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Aldo Oviglio | Italian Minister of Justice 1925–1932 | Succeeded by Pietro De Francisci |
Members of theMussolini Cabinet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Head of government andduce of Fascism |  | |
| Minister of Aeronautics (since 1925) | ||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | ||
| Minister of Agriculture (abolished in 1923) | ||
| Minister of Agriculture and Forestry (since 1929) | ||
| Minister of the Colonies (abolished in 1937) | ||
| Minister of Italian Africa (since 1937) | ||
| Minister of Communications (since 1924) | ||
| Minister of Corporations (since 1926) | ||
| Ministry of Popular Culture (since 1937) | ||
| Minister of the Interior | ||
| Minister of Domestic Economy | ||
| Minister of Domestic Education | ||
| Minister of Finance | ||
| Minister of Justice and Affairs of Religion | ||
| Minister of Industry and Commerce | ||
| Minister of Public Works | ||
| Minister of War | ||
| Minister of Labour and Social Security | ||
| Minister of Posts and Telegraphs | ||
| Minister of War Production (since 6 February 1943) | ||
| Minister of Public Education | ||
| Minister of Trades and Currencies | ||
| Minister of Press and Propaganda | ||
| Minister of Freed Territories from Enemies (abolished on 5 February 1923) | ||
| Minister of Treasure (merged into Ministry of Finance on 31 December 1922) | ||
