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Giuseppe Volpi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the politician. For the Italian sailor, see Giuseppe Volpi (sailor).

Giuseppe Volpi
Image
Volpi in 1925
Minister of Finance
In office
10 July 1925 – 9 July 1928
Prime MinisterBenito Mussolini
Preceded byAlberto De Stefani
Succeeded byAntonio Mosconi
Governor of Tripolitania
In office
16 July 1921 – 3 July 1925
Preceded byLuigi Mercatelli
Succeeded byEmilio De Bono
Member of the Senate of the Kingdom
In office
18 November 1922 – 5 August 1943
Appointed byVictor Emmanuel III
Personal details
Born19 November 1877
Venice, Italy
Died16 November 1947 (aged 69)
Rome, Italy
Resting placeSanta Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
PartyPNF

Giuseppe Volpi, 1st Count of Misurata (19 November 1877 – 16 November 1947) was an Italian businessman and politician.

Biography

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Count Volpi developed utilities, which had brought electricity to Venice, northeastern Italy and the Balkans by 1903.[1] This was most notably Società Adriatica di Elettricità (the Adriatic Electricity Company, or SADE) it. In 1911–1912, he acted as a negotiator in ending the Italo-Turkish War (Treaty of Lausanne 1912).[2] He was the governor of the colony of Tripolitania[3] from 1921 until 1925, and was backed by Mussolini in his approach to military pacification in the region.[4]

As the Kingdom of Italy's Minister of Finance from 1925 until 1928, Volpi successfully negotiated Italy's World War I debt repayment with the United States[5] and with the United Kingdom,[6] pegged the value of the lira to the value of gold, and implemented free trade policies.[7] He was replaced in July 1928 by Antonio Mosconi.[8] He was First Procurator of Saint Mark's, an influential position in Venice, from 1927 to 1947, involving the protection and historic preservation of Piazza San Marco and Saint Mark's Basilica.[9]

In 1928, he founded the Venice Lido golf club, where Hitler and Mussolini famously met in 1934.[10][11] In 1932, he founded the Venice Film Festival.[12]

Volpi was president of the Confindustria from 1934 to 1943.[13] He was removed from this position and expelled from the Grand Council of Fascism after he opposed the continuing of the war and Italy's alliance with Hitler. He was arrested by the SS after trying to escape to Switzerland.

After the war, as France and Italy had condemned him as a fascist co-conspirator, he fled to Switzerland where many fascists went into hiding after the war.[14] He underwent a series of legal proceedings for his responsibilities during the fascist regime after the war. His illness prevented him from appearing before the judges, but, thanks to the Togliatti amnesty he was acquitted of all charges, after a life spent at the top of the Fascist Party.[15]

Private life

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His son is the former automobile racing manager and Formula One team owner Giovanni Volpi (b. 1938).

His granddaughter via his daughter Countess Annamaria Volpi di Misurata was Countess Marina Cicogna (1934–2023) who The New York Times described as "the first major female Italian film producer" and "one of the most powerful women in European cinema".[16]

[edit]
  • Treaty of Lausanne 1912. Volpi stands on the far right.
    Treaty of Lausanne 1912. Volpi stands on the far right.
  • Volpi and Mussolini, 1925-28
    Volpi and Mussolini, 1925-28
  • In military uniform 1925.
    In military uniform 1925.
  • Tomb in Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
    Tomb in Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Berendt, John (26 September 2006). John Berendt, The City of Fallen Angels. Penguin. ISBN 9780143036937. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  2. ^ "Volpi's Commission". Time. 2 November 1925. Archived from the original on 27 October 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  3. ^ "Italy: Cabinet Changes". Time. 20 July 1925. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  4. ^ Libya: A country study (PDF). loc.gov. 15 December 1987.
  5. ^ "The Cabinet: Italy's Debt". Time. 23 November 1925. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Ratified". Time. 15 February 1926. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  7. ^ "Italy: Back on Gold". Time. 2 January 1928. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  8. ^ "Italy: Volpi Out". Time. 16 July 1928. Archived from the original on 21 November 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  9. ^ "Venezia, Tesserin lascia ruolo di Primo Procuratore di San Marco". 27 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Il Golf Club compie 90 anni: fu teatro dell'incontro tra il duce e Hitler". www.ilgazzettino.it (in Italian). 8 July 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  11. ^ ""Il golf", conferenza sulla storia del movimento golfistico a Venezia e del campo del Lido". live.comune.venezia.it (in Italian). 21 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  12. ^ Reginato, James (1 April 2009). "The High Life". W Magazine. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  13. ^ Volpi di Misurata, Giuseppe (1937). Economic progress of fascist Italy. Roma: Usila.
  14. ^ "SWITZERLAND: Smart Set". TIME. 19 March 1945. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
  15. ^ Mario Guarino, I soldi dei vinti. La dolce vita della casta fascista e la fame per milioni di italiani. Documenti inediti sul Ventennio tra corruzione, ruberie e omicidi. L'elenco dei profittatori del regime, Cosenza, Pellegrini, 2008
  16. ^ Williams, Alex (10 November 2023). "Marina Cicogna, Italy's First Major Female Film Producer, Dies at 89". The New York Times.
[edit]
  • Newspaper clippings about Giuseppe Volpi in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
  • Image Media related to Giuseppe Volpi at Wikimedia Commons
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