Matteotti crime, 100 years after the fascist murder

10 June 2024, one hundred years after the crime of Giacomo Matteotti. It was the same day as 1924, in fact, when the secretary of the Socialist Unitary Party was assassinated by a fascist squad. Matteotti had denounced the violence and electoral fraud of the Mussolini government, thus becoming a symbol of anti-fascism and the fight against the totalitarian regime.

Delitto Matteotti, the beginnings in the Italian Socialist Party

Giacomo Matteotti was born in 1885 in Fratta Polesine. He graduated in Law and in the ranks of Italian Socialist Party from a very young age, he was elected to Parliament in 1919. His fight against fascism began even before the March on Rome and the seizure of government by Benito Mussolini. Already in 1921, in fact, Matteotti denounced the violence of the fascist teams during the election campaign. A year later, following his departure from the party together with Filippo Turati, he founded the new Unity Socialist Party, becoming its secretary.

Matteotti crime, one hundred years today: the denunciation of fascist illegalities

Il 30 May 1924 Matteotti gave an indictment to the Chamber, contesting the illegalities implemented by Mussolini and the fascists in the elections of the previous April. The so-called "Listone" system, in fact, allowed the fascist party to obtain over 65% of votes, but Matteotti denounced the violence suffered by Italian voters, deprived of their freedom of choice. He still famous today, the speech he made to his party colleagues: “I gave my speech. Now you prepare the funeral speech for me."

The kidnapping and murder

Il 10 June 1924, while heading to the Chamber, Matteotti was kidnapped in Rome by Amerigo Durini's fascist squad. The socialist deputy, after a beating, came stabbed inside the vehicle. Two months after the murder, Matteotti's body was found near the countryside of Rome. Weeks earlier, the political opposition had begun the Secession of the Aventine, in protest against the Mussolini government. The Aventinians, in fact, decided to abstain from parliamentary activities until those responsible for Matteotti's assassination had been identified and tried.

100 years of the Matteotti crime

Countless i monuments and squares dedicated to Giacomo Matteotti, who became a symbol of anti-fascism. In 2022 the Ministry of Culture established the National Committee for the celebrations of the ccentenary of the death of Giacomo Matteotti. A year later, Parliament approved the law establishing the celebrations for the centenary of the death of the anti-fascist politician.