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Giacomo Acerbo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Agriculture and Forestry | |
| In office 12 September 1929 – 23 January 1935 | |
| Preceded by | Giuseppe De Capitani D'Arzago |
| Succeeded by | Edmondo Rossoni |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 July 1888 |
| Died | 9 January 1969 (aged 80) Rome, Italy |
| Political party | PNF (1922–1943) Independent (1943–1946) PNM (1946–1959) |
| Alma mater | University of Pisa |
Giacomo Acerbo,Baron ofAterno (25 July 1888 – 9 January 1969), was an Italian economist and politician. He is best known for having drafted theAcerbo Law that allowed theNational Fascist Party (PNF) to achieve asupermajority of two-thirds of theItalian Parliament after the1924 Italian general election, which saw intimidation tactics against voters.
Acerbo was born to an old family of the local nobility ofLoreto Aprutino. He was educated inPisa, graduating in agricultural sciences from theUniversity of Pisa in 1912. Acerbo's affiliation withFreemasons led him to become an advocate ofirredentism and Italy's entry toWorld War I. When war exploded upon the continent, he volunteered for military service. By the end of the war, he was decorated with three silver medals for military valour and promoted to the rank ofcaptain.
Acerbo resumed his work as an assistant professor in the faculty of economics, and he planned for a university career. At the same time, he promoted the Association of Servicemen ofTeramo andChieti (Italian:Associazione dei combattenti di Teramo e Chieti), which broke away from the national association after the1919 Italian general election and became theFasci Italiani di Combattimento's provincial group.
Elected to the country'sChamber of Deputies in the1921 Italian general election as part of the PNF'sNational Bloc, Acerbo acted as a mediator between localconservative forces and theBlackshirts; on a national level, he ensured peace in the open conflict between theItalian Socialist Party andItalian fascists, and he was elected to a leadership position inside the PNF. During theMarch on Rome in 1922, Acerbo presided over the Chamber of Deputies as thecoup d'état unfolded, and he acted as the link between the PNF andKing Victor Emmanuel III. He then accompaniedBenito Mussolini as he was designatedPrime Minister of Italy, and he became his undersecretary.
In November 1923, the Acerbo Law passed; he was again elected a deputy in 1924, winning his nobiliary title. Acerbo was marginally involved in the inquiry over the killing ofGiacomo Matteotti, and he left his position in the government. In 1924, he instituted theCoppa Acerbo in memory of his brother Tito Acerbo, who was a war hero. Acerbo was elected vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies in 1926, and he was Italy'sAgriculture and Forestry Minister from 1929 to 1935. As minister, he dedicated himself to projects for universally extendeddrainage. Together withGabriele D'Annunzio, he contributed to the creation of theProvince of Pescara in January 1927.
Acerbo became head of the Economics and Commerce Faculty at theUniversity of Rome in 1934. From 1935 to 1943, he was president of theInternational Agricultural Institute. A member of theGrand Council of Fascism, he was a spokesman for the project that turned the chamber into a representative of theFasci andCorporazioni. WhenWorld War II began and Italy joined theNazi German offensive, Acerbo served as member of theItalian Army's General Staff during the marginal manoeuvre in the Battle of France as part of theItalian manoeuvre in the Battle of France, and the Italian campaign of theGreco-Italian War. From February 1943, he was also Italy'sMinister of Finance.
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Being a staunch and ardentMediterraneanist, Acerbo first became outwardly critical of Mussolini when Mussolini began, at least in public, to embrace NaziNordicist theories and policies. Acerbo was critical of Nazi Nordicism, as Nazi Nordicism inherently classified Italians and other Mediterranean people as inferior or degenerate to Nordic and Germanic people.[1]: 146 With the rise of pro-Nordicist Nazi Germany, and asFascist Italy allied closer with Nazi Germany, the Fascist regime gave Italian Nordicists prominent positions in the PNF, which aggravated the original Mediterraneanists in the party like Acerbo.[1]: 188, 168, 146 In 1941, the PNF's Mediterraneanists, led by Acerbo, put forward a comprehensive definition of the Italian race as primarily Mediterranean.[1]: 146 The Mediterraneanists were derailed by Mussolini's endorsement of Nordicist figures with the appointment of Alberto Luchini, a Nordicist, as head of Italy's Racial Office in May 1941, as well as with Mussolini becoming interested withJulius Evola's spiritual Nordicism in late 1941.[1]: 146 In his High Council on Demography and Race, Acerbo and the Mediterraneanists sought to return Italian fascism to Mediterraneanism by denouncing the pro-NordicistManifesto of the Racial Scientists.[1]: 146
On 25 July 1943, Acerbo sided withDino Grandi when the latter attempted to topple Mussolini and take Italy out of the war. He voted in favour of the motion (Ordine del giorno Grandi) that stripped Mussolini of his powers, and he took refuge in his home region, the Allied-occupiedAbruzzo, after Mussolini regained some standing with help from the Nazis, establishing theItalian Social Republic, one that proscribed all opponents (including Acerbo) during theVerona trial. Captured by theItalian resistance movement, Acerbo was sentenced to death by the High Court of Justice, a verdict that was later lessened to 48 years in prison. This sentence too was overturned, and Acerbo's name was cleared in 1951, enabling him to resume his teaching career. He received numerous distinctions and titles in academia, and he was awarded a gold medal (in Education, Culture, and Arts) by the Italian presidentAntonio Segni. In the elections of 1953 and 1958, Acerbo was an unsuccessful candidate of theMonarchist National Party to theItalian Parliament.[citation needed] Acerbo died in Rome in 1969.[citation needed] He is also remembered for his passion as a collector of ancient pottery and created a Gallery dedicated to ceramics of the Abruzzo.[citation needed]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Minister of Agriculture and Forestry 1929-1935 | Succeeded by |
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) | ||
