Matteotti, Giacomo

Matteotti, Giacomo (jä`kōmō mät-tāôt`tē), 1885–1924, Italian Socialist leader; the outstanding opponent of the Fascist regime during its early days. He was a member of parliament, and his murder by Fascist hirelings precipitated a parliamentary crisis that Mussolini overcame by disavowing the murder and by tightening police control. With the crushing of the opposition aroused by Matteotti's assassination, Mussolini's dictatorship may be said to have begun. The murderers and their accomplices received only nominal sentences.

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Matteotti, Giacomo

(born May 22, 1885, Fratta Polesine, Italy—died June 10, 1924, Rome) Italian Socialist leader. A lawyer, he joined the Italian Socialist Party and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1919. As head of the Socialists in 1924, he strongly denounced the Fascist Party. Two weeks after his speech, he was kidnapped and murdered by fascists. The murder created a worldwide scandal, and Benito Mussolini took responsibility as head of the Fascist Party and dared his critics to prosecute him. Opposition was weak, and the Matteotti crisis enabled Mussolini to further consolidate his power.