13 Facts About Dino Grandi

Dino Grandi, 1st Conte di Mordano, was an Italian Fascist politician, minister of justice, minister of foreign affairs and president of Parliament.

Dino Grandi joined the Blackshirts at age 25, and was one of 35 Fascist delegates elected, along with Mussolini, in May 1921 to the Chamber of Deputies.

Dino Grandi survived an ambush carried out by leftist militants in 1920, and had his studio devastated on one occasion.

Dino Grandi was an ally to the most radical and violent groups of fascists, always surrounding himself with members of the Blackshirts.

Dino Grandi used his power base to voice criticism of Mussolini's attempt to reach an armistice with left-wingers and was at one point under suspicion for having attempted to replace the latter with the skeptical alleged Mussolini forerunner Gabriele D'Annunzio.

Dino Grandi opposed the antisemitic Italian racial laws of 1938, and the country's entry into World War II.

Dino Grandi was dropped from the Cabinet in February 1943 for his increasing criticism of the war effort.

When Mussolini said that the Germans were thinking of evacuating the south, Dino Grandi launched a blistering attack on his former comrade-in-arms.

Dino Grandi then made a motion asking King Victor Emmanuel III to resume his full constitutional authority.

Dino Grandi negotiated a truce with the left-wing movements, notably with the trade unions, which gave way to the Italian resistance movement against Nazi Germany.

Dino Grandi had made sure to flee to Francisco Franco's Spain in August 1943.

Dino Grandi lived there, then in Portugal, Argentina, and then Sao Paulo, Brazil, until he returned to Italy in the 1960s; he died in Bologna.

Coincidentally, Dino Grandi died on the same weekend as two post-war Italian Fascist leaders.