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Giovanni Amendola | |
|---|---|
 Amendola in 1923. | |
| Minister of the Colonies | |
| In office 26 February 1922 – 30 October 1922 | |
| Prime Minister | Luigi Facta |
| Preceded by | Giuseppe Girardini |
| Succeeded by | Luigi Federzoni |
| Member of the Chamber of Deputies | |
| In office 1 December 1919 – 7 April 1926 | |
| Constituency | Salerno |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1882-04-15)15 April 1882 Naples,Italy |
| Died | 7 April 1926(1926-04-07) (aged 43) Cannes,France |
| Political party | Italian Socialist Party (1897–1899) Italian Radical Party (1900–1919) Democratic Liberal Party (1919–1926) |
| Spouse(s) | ; his death |
| Children | Giorgio (1907–1980) Adelaide (1910–1980) Antonio (1916–1953) Pietro (1918–2007) |
| Alma mater | University of Florence |
| Profession | Journalist,philosopher |
Giovanni Amendola (15 April 1882 – 7 April 1926) was an Italian journalist, professor, and politician. He is noted as an opponent ofItalian fascism.[1]
Amendola was born inNaples on 15 April 1882.[2] He moved toRome, where he obtained the middle school diploma. At fifteen he joined the socialist youth. The following year he was an apprentice to the newspaper of the Italian Radical Party "La Capitale." He graduated with a degree inphilosophy, he collaborated with such publications asLeonardo ofGiovanni Papini andLa Voce ofGiuseppe Prezzolini.[3] After that, he obtained the chair of theoretical philosophy at theUniversity of Pisa. Between 1912 and 1914 Amendola was the editor of the Bologna-based dailyIl Resto del Carlino.[2] He worked forCorriere della Sera from 1914 to 1920.[2]
Attracted bypolitics, he was elected three times to theItalian Chamber of Deputies forSalerno. In the 1910s, Amendola supported theItalian liberal movement, but he was completely against the ideology ofGiovanni Giolitti. DuringWorld War I, he adopted a position ofdemocraticirredentism and, at the end of the war, was nominated minister byPrime MinisterFrancesco Saverio Nitti.
His critical positions while confronting theright-wing extremism cost him a series of attacks by hired Fascist hitmen. In 1924 Amendola refused to adhere to the "Listone Mussolini", and attempted to become Prime Minister, at the head of a liberal coalition which ran in the elections. He was defeated, but continued the democratic battle by writing columns for theIl Mondo, a new daily newspaper which he founded together with other intellectuals in 1922.[2]
During the height of the Matteotti Crisis, Amendola published the Rossi Testimony in one of his newspapers, on 27 December 1924. The document directly implicatedPrime Minister Mussolini in the murder ofGiacomo Matteotti, the leader of the Socialist PSU party, on the 10 June 1924. In the same document, Amendola also declared that Mussolini was behind the reign of terror which led up to the April 6th, 1924 general elections.
Resented by Mussolini for his prominent activism, Amendola was, together with theUnitary Socialist Party deputy Giacomo Matteotti and the popular priest DonGiovanni Minzoni, one of the régime's earliest victims, as he was beaten by 15Blackshirts with clubs in July, 1925.
Amendola formulated the notion oftotalitarianism as total political power which is exercised by the state in 1923, describingItalian Fascism as a system which was fundamentally different from conventionaldictatorships.[4] The term was later assigned a positive meaning in the writings ofGiovanni Gentile, Italy's most prominent philosopher and leading theorist offascism. He used the termtotalitario to refer to the structure and goals of the new state which was to provide the "total representation of the nation and total guidance of national goals."[5]
Amendola died on 7 April 1926 atCannes,France, in agony from violence inflicted when he was beaten by 15 Blackshirts with clubs.[2]
Amendola married Eva Kuhn in 1906, and they remained together until Amendola's death in 1926. Together, they had four children:Giorgio Amendola (1907–1980), who became an importantcommunist writer and politician, Adelaide (1910–1980), Antonio (1916–1953), andPietro (1918–2007), who also became a journalist and politician.
In theFlorestano Vancini's filmThe Assassination of Matteotti (1973), Amendola is played byDamiano Damiani.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Italian Minister of the Colonies 1922 | Succeeded by |
