In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

223 Outlining the problem Current historiography has completely dismantled the monolithic description of fascist racism in Italy. In fact, according to the most recent research, official racism developed in Italy, between 1938 and 1943, along three different lines, each distinct from an ideological, political and institutional point of view.1 Biological, or “Nordic” racism, characterized the publication of the most important scientific document, the so-called “Manifesto of the racial scientists.”2 The principle exponents of the biological current came from two different, although linked, groups: one, the journalistic lobby, headed by Telesio Interlandi, leading journalist of the regime and director of the daily newspaper Il Tevere, the weekly review Quadrivio and the twicemonthly journal La Difesa della razza;3 the other, from the four main drivers of the “Manifesto” of July 1938. The latter group included the young anthropologist Guido Landra, main editor of the “Manifesto” and director from August 1938 of the Race Office of the Ministry of Popular Culture (Ufficio Razza del Ministero della Cultura Popolare); Lidio Cipriani, professor of anthropology at the University of Florence and director of the Florence national museum of anthropology and ethnology; Leone Franzì, 1 Mauro Raspanti, “I razzismi del fascismo,” in Centro Studi F. Jesi, ed., La menzogna della razza. Documenti e immagini del razzismo e dell’antisemitismo fascista (Bologna: Grafis, 1994), 73–89. 2 See Aaron Gillette, “The Origins of the ‘Manifesto of the Racial Scientists,’” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 6, no. 3 (2001): 305–23. 3 On Telesio Interlandi, see Francesco Cassata, “La Difesa della razza.” Politica, ideologia e immagine del razzismo fascista (Turin: Einaudi, 2008); Meir Michaelis, “Mussolini’s Unofficial Mouthpiece: Telesio Interlandi, Il Tevere and the Evolution of Mussolini’s anti-Semitism,” Journal of Modern Italian Studies 3, no. 3 (1998): 217–40. C H A P T E R V Eugenics and Racism (1938–1943) med_03___ok.indd 223 2011-04-12 13:32:43 224 CHAPTER V assistant professor in the pediatric clinic of the University of Milan; Lino Businco, assistant professor of general pathology at the University of Rome and Marcello Ricci, assistant professor of anthropology also at the University of Rome. Nationalist, or “Mediterranean,” racism centered around historical and geographical considerations about race. It assumed an institutional relevance in February 1939, when Landra was replaced at the Race Office by Sabato Visco, director of the institute of general physiology at the University of Rome, and founder of the National Institute of Nutrition. The most famous exponent of this current was Giacomo Acerbo, president of the High Council of Demography and Race (Consiglio Superiore della Demografia e Razza), which was the principle institution of nationalist racism.4 One of the most relevant initiatives of the General Council was the April 1942 document on the “Italian race,” which among its stated intentions, aimed to become a new “Manifesto” on race. The rise of Alberto Luchini at the head of the Race Office in May 1941 was an evident sign of the growing influence of the esoteric-traditionalist racist current, politically supported by Giovanni Preziosi and Roberto Farinacci ,5 and represented above all by the biological-metaphysical theories of Julius Evola.6 Between 1941 and 1943, esoteric-traditionalist racism developed two particular projects: an investigation of the racial components (biological, psychological and spiritual) of the Italian population; and the constitution of a bilingual Italian–German review, entitled Sangue e Spirito 4 The High Council of Demography and Race included: Giacomo Acerbo; Filippo Bottazzi, professor of human physiology, University of Naples; Alessandro Ghigi, professor of zoology, University of Bologna; Raffaele Corso, professor of ethnology, University of Firenze; Vito De Blasi, lecturer of obstetrics and gynaecology , University of Genoa; Cornelio Di Marzio, journalist; Cesare Frugoni, professor of general clinical medicine, University of Rome; Livio Livi, professor of statistics, University of Florence; Biagio Pace, professor of topography of ancient Italy, University of Rome; Antonio Pagliaro, professor of glottology, University of Rome; Umberto Pieramonti, assistant professor of racial biology, University of Naples; Ugo Rellini, professor of palaeontology, University of Rome; Giunio Salvi, professor of human anatomy, University of Naples; Sergio Sergi, professor of anthropology, University of Rome; Francesco Valagussa, lecturer of Clinical Paediatrics , University of Rome. 5 On Giovanni Preziosi, see Renzo De Felice, Storia degli ebrei italiani sotto il fascismo (Turin: Einaudi, 1961); Michele Sarfatti, ed., La Repubblica sociale italiana a Desenzano: Giovanni Preziosi e l’Ispettorato generale per la razza (Milano: Giuntina, 2008). On Roberto Farinacci, see Matteo Di Figlia, Farinacci: il radicalismo fascista al potere (Donzelli: Roma...

Share