The Enemy of the New Man: Homosexuality in Fascist Italy

Images

Fascist action squads from La Spezia on the occasion of the March on Rome, October 1922. (Central State Archive, Rome, Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista, b. 148, Authorization 1223.43.10) Right : Souvenir postcard from the regional assembly of the Italian Fasci di Combattimento, Emilia-Romagna, 1921. (Central State Archive, Rome, Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista, b. 190, Authorization 1223.43.10) Left: Stadio dei Marmi. (photos by Anthony Majanlahti) “German male pederast.” (in Cesare Lombroso, “Album criminale germanico,” Lombroso Museum, Turin) “The Homosexual Army.” The caption reads: “The General’s Review: The Army is one big family. You are all my children.” Satirical cartoon about the Eulenburg scandal, 1906–9. (in Giuseppe Senizza, Corruzione sessuale e crudeltà germanica) “Liebenberg Castle.” Satirical cartoon about the Eulenburg scandal, 1906–9. (in Giuseppe Senizza, Corruzione sessuale e crudeltà germanica) “Passive pederast thief.” (in Abele De Blasio, Usi e costumi dei camorristi ) “Soldato Giglione, professional passive pederast” shown with his finger to his lip and with a sidelong glance intended to seduce. (Lombroso Museum, Turin) Biographical card of the confinato politico Emanuele Bonanno, interned for pederasty. (Central State Archive, Rome, Confino Politico, b. 128, Authorization 1223.43.10) Biographical card of the confinato politico Domenico Romiti, interned for pederasty. (Central State Archive, Rome, Confino Politico, b. 878, Authorization 1223.43.10) Cover of In Africa Orientale by Giovanni Longetti. (Fry Collection , Department of Special Collections, University of Wisconsin–Madison) This postcard documents and compares the activities of the 42nd Infantry Regiment in North Africa during the First World War and the Fascist period. (Fry Collection, Department of Special Collections, University of Wisconsin– Madison) E. M. Vardaro, “135th Legion MVSN ‘Gran Sasso’ Teramo.” (Fry Collection, Department of Special Collections, University of Wisconsin–Madison) The tank speech, August 16, 1934. Benito Mussolini in the Field Marshall uniform of the MVSN addressing the troops from atop a tank named after Damiano Chiesa. (Central State Archive, Rome, Segreteria Particolare del Duce, Attività del Duce, b. 12, f. 27, Authorization 1223.43.10) Benito Mussolini reviews Rome’s garrison troops on the occasion of the king’s birthday, November 11, 1932. Angelo Manaresi and Achille Starace can be seen behind him. (Central State Archive, Rome, Segreteria Particolare del Duce, Attività del Duce, b. 9, f. 33, Authorization 1223.43.10) The Mussolini family at Villa Torlonia , Rome, 1930. From left to right, Mussolini’s wife Rachele holding Anna Maria, Benito with Romano, Edda, Bruno, and Vittorio. (Central State Archive, Rome, Authorization 1223.43.10) A bare-chested Duce on the slopes of Monte Terminillo , February 17, 1937. (Central State Archive, Rome, Segreteria Particolare del Duce, Attività del Duce, b. 15, f. 1, Authorization 1223.43.10) M. D’Ercoli, “Distretto militare di Nola” (The Recruiting Office in Nola). Young bourgeois men enter the barracks in civilian clothes and leave as soldiers in uniform. (Fry Collection, Department of Special Collections, University of Wisconsin–Madison) “The Latest Fashion.” The caption reads: “Why is that woman wearing anchovies, pickles, and sweet relish on the back of her hand? She is so ugly that no one would kiss her hand otherwise.” (Fry Collection, Department of Special Collections, University of Wisconsin–Madison) “Tipi: numero uno” (Types: Number One), a satirical cartoon . (in Carlo Scorza, Tipi . . . Tipi . . . Tipi . . . ) Filipo De Pisis, “Reclining Nude, February 8, 1931.” (in Rodolfo Pallucchini , ed., Filippo De Pisis: Testo di Marco Valsecchi) Portrait of Aldo Mieli by Joao Saaverda Machado , published in Archeion , 1940. (courtesy of the National Library of Medicine) ...