Benito Mussolini transformed Italy from a chaotic post-war kingdom into the world's first fascist state. While history remembers him for his alliance with Hitler and his dramatic downfall, his personal life was filled with strange contradictions and surprising hobbies. For instance, the man who glorified war originally fled the country to avoid the draft. Furthermore, he considered himself a great intellectual and even wrote a historical romance novel before taking power. Prepare to look behind the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia.
Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini wrote a romance novel called The Cardinal’s Mistress. Before he became a dictator, he penned a steamy historical fiction book about a scandalous affair between a 17th-century cardinal and a woman. Publishers even translated the book into English due to its popularity.
He absolutely hated pasta and tried to ban it. He believed that pasta made the Italian people sluggish, lazy, and “heavy.” Consequently, he launched a campaign to convince Italians to eat rice instead, which he thought served as a more dynamic food for soldiers.
School officials expelled him for stabbing a classmate. As a child, he possessed a violent temper and stabbed a fellow student in the hand with a penknife. Surprisingly, this did not stop him from later becoming a qualified elementary school teacher.
His son was a famous jazz pianist who married Sophia Loren’s sister. Romano Mussolini made a living playing jazz music, a genre his father had once banned as “barbaric.” Romano married Maria Scicolone, linking the dictator’s family to Hollywood royalty.
He declared himself the “Protector of Islam.” In 1937, he visited Libya and received a magnificent ceremonial sword called the “Sword of Islam.” He posed with it on horseback to win the favor of Muslim subjects in the Italian colonies.
A team of German commandos rescued him from a mountain prison using gliders. After the King ordered his arrest in 1943, Hitler sent Otto Skorzeny to break him out of the Hotel Campo Imperatore. The commandos landed gliders on the rocky mountainside and flew him to safety.
He feared the “evil eye” intensely. Despite his tough public image, he remained incredibly superstitious. If he saw a person he suspected of having the “malocchio,” he secretly touched his crotch to ward off the bad luck.
He originally fled to Switzerland to avoid military service. Although he later glorified war and violence, he ran away as a young man to dodge the Italian draft. He lived in Switzerland as a homeless laborer before eventually returning to Italy.
he “March on Rome” was actually a bluff. While thousands of his Blackshirts marched toward the capital to seize power, Mussolini did not march with them. He took a comfortable train ride from Milan to Rome once he knew the King would not stop him.
He worked as a spy for the British government during World War I. Documents revealed that MI5 paid him a weekly wage to publish pro-war propaganda in his newspaper. They wanted him to keep Italy involved in the fight against Germany.
He created the Venice Film Festival. In 1932, his regime established the “Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica” to promote Italian culture. It remains the oldest film festival in the world today.
Partisans caught him trying to escape in a German soldier’s coat. When the resistance forces stopped his convoy near the border, he tried to hide by wearing a German helmet and overcoat. However, his disguise failed, and the guards recognized him almost immediately.
He challenged a rival editor to a duel with swords. Throughout his life, he fought several duels to defend his honor. In one famous instance, he fought a socialist rival and wounded him, proving his skill with a blade.
He kept a pet lion cub named Ras. He loved posing for photographs with the wild animal to project an image of strength and fearlessness. He often walked the cub around Rome on a leash to impress the public.
Finally, he ordered the construction of a massive obelisk that still stands today. The “Mussolini Dux” obelisk in Rome features his name carved in giant letters. Despite the fall of fascism, the monument remains at the Foro Italico sports complex.
