CORSO MATTEOTTI
Who was Giacomo Matteotti?
Giacomo Matteotti was born in Fratta Polesine (Rovigo) on 22nd of May 1885. His parents were Girolamo Matteotti and Elisabetta Garzolo. He was a politician, journalist and an Italian anti-fascist.
Birth of Matteotti’s political life
Matteotti was the second of three children and around the 20th century, under the influence of his elder brother, Giacomo signed up to the Italian Socialist party. This party wanted to break the difference between the social classes and the private property of the means of productions.
Giacomo Matteotti (www.ilmanifesto.it)
Arnaldo Mussolini (www.wikipedia.it)
The fight against Fascism
The fight against Fascism was a fundamental part of Matteotti’s political growth; he became a popular leader because of his frequent denunciation of Fascist methods. In his last year Matteotti was considered the only member of Italian political scene who didn’t commit any crimes of silence. Although his fight against Fascism made him famous in the political sector, it compromised his position as secretary of the Socialist Party.
On 10th of June 1924 he was murdered in Rome by a Fascist squad headed by Amerigo Duimini. The justifications for his murder were: his frequent complaints against Mussolini (the leader of Fascism), some investigations he led about government corruption and some financial scandals regarding Arnaldo Mussolini (Mussolini's brother).
In fact, Matteotti was to give a public speech on Arnaldo’s financial scandal the day after his death.
A year later, on 3rd January of 1925, Mussolini took the moral and political responsibility for Matteotti’s murder.
The monument to the battle
The monument to the battle is in the centre of Piazza Podestà in Varese. It is a bronze statue dedicated to the victory of the fight which took place in Varese in 1859. It is also called “Il Garibaldino” or “Il cacciatore delle Alpi”. “Cacciatori delle Alpi” was a group of volunteers who fought for the liberation of northern Lombardy in the Second War of Independence against the Austrians. Giuseppe Garibaldi, too, (one of the main protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento) was one of its members.
The statue represents a Garibaldian: he is running into the fight and he is holding a flag and a rifle. In the basement there is a memorial plaque of the victory of 26th May 1859.