- Serafino Mazzolini
Serafino Mazzolini (
June 9 1890 —February 23 1945 ) was an Italian lawyer, fascist politician, and journalist.Mazzolini was born in
Arcevia , in theMarche . He founded a nationalist group inMacerata , and soon became editor of the daily newspaper "L'Unione". An active irredentist and advocate of Italy's entry intoWorld War I , he was a volunteer soldier in 1915, and was awarded a War Merit Cross. In 1918, Mazzolini returned toAncona and was deputy editor of "L'Ordine" newspaper, interrupting his assignment in order to joinGabriele D'Annunzio as the latter attempted to seize Fiume for an "unredeemed" Italy (1919).A member of the provincial council in Ancona, he took part in the
March on Rome of 1922, and a year later joined thePartito Nazionale Fascista (PNF) - becoming one of its leaders as of 1924-1925. A deputy secretary for the PNF, he contributed to itsPropaganda Office, represented it in theItalian Chamber of Deputies from 1924 on, and was awarded a supervisory position as member of theGrand Council of Fascism (from 1926).In quick succession, he renounced all political missions, and returned to journalism for a while, before beginning a career in
diplomacy : he was Italy's envoy toBrazil ,Uruguay , theBritish Mandate of Palestine andEgypt . After the start ofWorld War II and the attack carried out by theAxis Powers on their former ally, theKingdom of Yugoslavia , Serafino Mazzolini was High Commissioner for Italian-occupied Montenegro in 1941, and held a high-ranking position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1943.After Mussolini's ousting and the
Cassibile September 1943 truce between Italy and the Allies, Mazzolini joined the Nazi German-backed and Mussolini-ledItalian Social Republic as its deputy-secretary for Foreign Affairs. Throughout this period, he led a modest life, and was forced to acquire large debts in order to procure medicine that promised to keep him alive. He died atSan Felice del Benaco as the result of a septicemia produced by aninsulin injection.
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