How did mussolini die

Clara Petacci

Mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (–)

Clara "Claretta" Petacci (Italian:[klaˈrettapeˈtattʃi]; 28 February – 28 April ) was a mistress of the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. She was killed by Italian partisans during Mussolini's summary execution.

Early life

Daughter of Giuseppina Persichetti (–) and the physician Francesco Saverio Petacci (–), Clara Petacci was born into a privileged and religious family in Rome in [1][2] Her father, a physician of the Holy Apostolic Palaces,[3] became a supporter of fascism. A child when Mussolini rose to power in the s, Clara Petacci idolised him from an early age.

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    • After Violet Gibson attempted to assassinate the dictator in April , the year-old Petacci wrote to him commenting "O, Duce, why was I not with you?&#; Could I not have strangled that murderous woman?"[4]

    Relationship with Mussolini

    Petacci had a long-standing relationship with Mussolini while he was married to Rachele Mussolini.

    Petacci was 28 years younger than Mussolini.[5] They met for the first time in April when Mussolini, driving with an aide to Ostia, overtook a car occupied by the twenty-year-old Petacci and family members. She called out, "Duce! Duce!" and when he stopped, told him that she had been writing to him since her early teens.[6]

    In , Petacci married Italian Air Force officer Riccardo Federici, but she parted ways with her husband when he was sent to Tokyo as Air Attaché in [7] Petacci then became the mistress of the fifty-three-year-old Mussolini, visiting his headquarters in the Palazzo Venezia, where a small apartment was reserved for her.

    Her infatuation with Mussolini appears to have been genuine and permanent. The affair became widely known and members of the Petacci family, notably her brother, Marcello, were able to benefit financially and professionally by influence-selling.[8]

    Part of Petacci and Mussolini's correspondence has not been released on the grounds of privacy.[9]

    Death

    See also: Death of Benito Mussolini

    On 27 April , Mussolini and Petacci were captured by partisans while traveling with a Luftwaffe convoy retreating to Germany.

    Benito mussolini The Partisans could therefore count on the discretion and assistance of this particular unit when they were looking for a place to keep Mussolini. A child when Mussolini rose to power in the s, Clara Petacci idolised him from an early age. Back To Top. Bill could not see his features, and he unceremoniously removed the German helmet, revealing the well-known bald head of Il Duce.

    The German column included a number of Italian Social Republic members.[10]

    On 28 April, she and Mussolini were taken to Mezzegra and executed. One source alleges Petacci's execution was not planned and that she died throwing herself on Mussolini in a vain attempt to protect him from the bullets.[11] On the following day, the bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were taken to Piazzale Loreto in Milan and hung upside down in front of a petrol station.

    The bodies were photographed as a crowd vented their rage upon them.[12] On the same day, Clara's brother, Marcello Petacci, was also killed in Dongo by the partisans, along with fifteen other people complicit in Mussolini's escape.

    After the war, the family of Petacci began civil and criminal court cases against Walter Audisio for Petacci's unlawful killing.

    After a lengthy legal process, an investigating judge eventually closed the case in Audisio was acquitted of murder and embezzlement on the grounds that the actions complained of occurred as an act of war against the Germans and the fascists during a period of enemy occupation.[13]

    See also

    References

    1. ^Barber, Tony (17 February ).

      "Claretta by RJB Bosworth — Mussolini's last lover". . Archived from the original on Retrieved

    2. ^Downing, Ben (). "In Bed With Il Duce". Wall Street Journal. ISSN&#; Retrieved
    3. ^De Felice () p.
    4. ^Thomson, Ian (25 February ).

      Clara claretta petacci bodies pictures Clara remained with her husband for several years while meeting regularly with Benito Mussolini. The Guardia di Finanza as a body had been very sympathetic to the Partisans in their strife against the Fascists. The woman was stranded in Como and evidently spoke freely of her predicament, mentioning the precious load in the truck. It was not reasonable to assume that the Germans would give up Mussolini so easily.

      "The Ben and Clara affair". . Archived from the original on Retrieved

    5. ^(in Spanish) Giuseppina Persichetti, La enamorada de Mussolini, Madrid, Ediciones Caballero Audaz,
    6. ^Gallo, Max (). Mussolini's Italy. Abelard-Schuman. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
    7. ^Boswort, R.J.B.

      (). Mussolini. Bloomsbury.

    8. ^Gallo, Max ().

      Claretta petacci biography: Shortly afterwards he said he realized that all was lost. Beyond the lake is the country around Bellaggio. Petacci was very tired, so the party proceeded slowly, arriving at the house of Giacomo de Maria between 2. THE German convoy arrived at Dongo about 3.

      Mussolini's Italy. Abelard-Schuman. pp.&#;– ISBN&#;.

    9. ^(in Italian) Giampiero Buonomo, Quel carteggio tra Mussolini e la Petacci. Storici sacrificati sull’altare della privacy, in Diritto e giustizia, 16 luglio
    10. ^Gunther Langes, Auf Wiedersehen Claretta.

      Clara claretta petacci bodies found Mussolini, Pavolini, and the remaining Ministers again gathered for a long conference which lasted nearly three hours. They beat his head to a pulp until bits of his brain spilled onto the ground. In April, soon after the start of the brilliant offensive by the Allied armies, the situation on the Italian front began to look hopeless for the Axis. Someone from the Partisans addressed the pseudo-Spanish consul in Spanish and ascertained that he did not speak the language.

      Il diario dell'uomo che poteva salvare Mussolini e la Petacci, a cura di Nico Pirozzi, Villaricca, Edizioni Cento Autori, ISBN&#;

    11. ^Pierluigi Baima Bollone, Le ultime ore di Mussolini, Milano, Mondadori, , ISBN&#;, pagg. 89 e
    12. ^"Death of the Father-Mussolini & Fascist Italy: the 'infamous' exhibit".

      Cornell Institute for Digital Collections.

    13. ^Baima Bollone, Pierluigi (). Le ultime ore di Mussolini. Mondadori (Italy).

      Clara claretta petacci bodies On July 25, , the Fascist Grand Council took a vote of no confidence and pushed the dictator out of power. When they finally caught up to him, she flagged him down and started gushing about how great a man she thought he was. Il Duce told him later that the Germans had been instructed to shoot the minute he was discovered. She was killed by Italian partisans during Mussolini's summary execution.

      p.&#; ISBN&#;.

    14. ^"Rachele Mussolini perde la causa non riavrà più i beni di un tempo" [Rachele Mussolini loses the case: She will not have again the goods of time ago]. La Stampa (in Italian). 13 May p.&#; Retrieved 7 February
    15. ^Annovazzi Lodi, Stefano (3 December ).

      "Il grand hotel della riviera che faceva sognare Fellini" [The grand hotel on the riviera that made Fellini dream]. ELLE Decor (in Italian). Retrieved 3 February

    Sources

    • De Felice, Renzo () []. Mussolini.

    • Claretta petacci biography
    • Clara claretta petacci bodies photos
    • Claretta petacci

      • Il Duce. 2: Lo stato totalitario, – (in Italian) (2&#;ed.). Torino: Einaudi.

    Further reading

    • Bosworth, R.J.B. (). Claretta: Mussolini's Last Lover, Yale University Press ISBN&#;
    • Farrell, Nicholas (). Mussolini: A New Life, Phoenix Press: London ISBN&#;
    • Garibaldi, Luciano ().

      Mussolini: The Secrets of His Death, Enigma Books, New York ISBN&#;

    • Moseley, Ray (). Mussolini: The Last Days of Il Duce, Taylor Trade Publishing, Dallas ISBN&#;