Benito Mussolini

Benito Mussolini, who ruled Fascist Italy from 1922 to 1943, had ambitious plans for the nation's capital. In the historic center he sought to uncover the remains of Imperial Rome, on which he modeled his new Italian empire, opening massive archaeological works and at the same time destroying many of the city's medieval landmarks. Outside the center Il Duce ordered the construction of whole districts in a new architectural vernacular that melded Roman classicism with stream-lined modernism.

Robert Katz Historian wrote 'Death in Rome' Robert Katz, 77, a writer and historian whose meticulous reconstruction of an infamous Nazi massacre in Rome brought him fame and sparked a trial over whether he defamed the pope, died Wednesday in a hospital near his home in Arezzo, Italy. His wife, Beverly Gerstel, said he died of complications from cancer surgery. Katz wrote extensively on 20th-century Italian history in books, essays and articles, some of which were made into films.

It began quietly, without warning. One morning, three young skinheads on a secret mission entered the crypt, donned black capes and took turns standing at grim attention by their hero's tomb. The next day, another stone-faced trio took up the 11-hour watch, and before many people noticed, the stealth vigil had become a daily routine. Today, nearly a year later, the ritual is an established fact: Benito Mussolini, the long-disgraced fascist dictator, has a posthumous honor guard.

Regarding "Monsters or Masterpieces?" by Susan Spano [Oct. 11]. What a fantastic article. I lived in Rome from 2007 to '08 while attending St. John's University for graduate school. What a city. I love the architecture enough to make a special trip to see all of the things I didn't have time for when I was studying. I have been curious about EUR but never went there. Thank Spano for writing about these often-overlooked places. Christina Brandli Irvine :: Spano missed several important memorials to the architecture of Benito Mussolini, who was labeled "a visionary leader."

Far-right leader Gianfranco Fini, whose party is poised to share power in Italy's next government, hailed fascist dictator Benito Mussolini as "the greatest statesman of the century." Fini's remarks were in sharp contrast to his attempts during the campaign to play down his party's fascist past. The interview with La Stampa newspaper was published as Fini's partners in the "Freedom Alliance" met to discuss the formation of a new government.

Romano Mussolini, an accomplished jazz pianist and last living child of Italy's World War II dictator Benito Mussolini, has died. He was 78. The musician and painter had been hospitalized more than two weeks ago for kidney and gall bladder problems and died Friday, according to the website of his daughter's political party. The daughter, Alessandra Mussolini, leads a small right-wing political movement.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said fascist dictator Benito Mussolini never killed anyone, provoking outrage in Italy's Jewish community and opposition party demands for an apology. Berlusconi later said he had been reacting to a comparison of Mussolini to Iraq's Saddam Hussein but "never intended to reevaluate Mussolini." Mussolini ruled from 1922 to 1943, launching bloody colonial wars in Africa before allying with the Nazis.

Miriam Petacci, 68, who spent her life defending her sister's love for dictator Benito Mussolini. Her sister, Claretta, 10 years older, was shot to death along with Mussolini in 1945 after he was captured and court-martialed. Their bodies were hung outside a gas station in Milan where crowds spat on them. Miriam Petacci recalled in her memoirs that she was 9 when she and Claretta met Mussolini on a drive to the beach at Ostia, near Rome.

Along the wide, straight Via dei Fori Imperiali near the Colosseum, sightseers often stop to look at a series of maps showing the growth of the Roman Empire: just a dot on the west coast of the Italian peninsula in the 8th century BC, larger in the next two panels, then at its most expansive in the fourth tablet when the Roman world stretched from Spain to Mesopotamia. Nothing remains of the fifth map placed here in 1936 to commemorate Italy's conquest of Ethiopia under the direction of Benito Mussolini.

Regarding "Monsters or Masterpieces?" by Susan Spano [Oct. 11]. What a fantastic article. I lived in Rome from 2007 to '08 while attending St. John's University for graduate school. What a city. I love the architecture enough to make a special trip to see all of the things I didn't have time for when I was studying. I have been curious about EUR but never went there. Thank Spano for writing about these often-overlooked places. Christina Brandli Irvine :: Spano missed several important memorials to the architecture of Benito Mussolini, who was labeled "a visionary leader."

Benito Mussolini, who ruled Fascist Italy from 1922 to 1943, had ambitious plans for the nation's capital. In the historic center he sought to uncover the remains of Imperial Rome, on which he modeled his new Italian empire, opening massive archaeological works and at the same time destroying many of the city's medieval landmarks. Outside the center Il Duce ordered the construction of whole districts in a new architectural vernacular that melded Roman classicism with stream-lined modernism.

Along the wide, straight Via dei Fori Imperiali near the Colosseum, sightseers often stop to look at a series of maps showing the growth of the Roman Empire: just a dot on the west coast of the Italian peninsula in the 8th century BC, larger in the next two panels, then at its most expansive in the fourth tablet when the Roman world stretched from Spain to Mesopotamia. Nothing remains of the fifth map placed here in 1936 to commemorate Italy's conquest of Ethiopia under the direction of Benito Mussolini.

Romano Mussolini, an accomplished jazz pianist and last living child of Italy's World War II dictator Benito Mussolini, has died. He was 78. The musician and painter had been hospitalized more than two weeks ago for kidney and gall bladder problems and died Friday, according to the website of his daughter's political party. The daughter, Alessandra Mussolini, leads a small right-wing political movement.

If your last name is Mussolini, do you really want to inflict it on your children? Yes, says Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the fascist dictator who was executed by Italian partisans at the end of World War II. The problem, however, is that women in Italy cannot hand down their last names to their children -- not, at least, without an enormous battle.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said fascist dictator Benito Mussolini never killed anyone, provoking outrage in Italy's Jewish community and opposition party demands for an apology. Berlusconi later said he had been reacting to a comparison of Mussolini to Iraq's Saddam Hussein but "never intended to reevaluate Mussolini." Mussolini ruled from 1922 to 1943, launching bloody colonial wars in Africa before allying with the Nazis.

A quasi-Chaplinesque image of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini has prevailed since his violent death in April 1945. Postwar biographers of the Italian Duce delivered a succession of body blows to the man's reputation so severe that his transmogrification from brutal fascist to a "sawdust Caesar" now dominates many popular perceptions of him.

Robert Katz Historian wrote 'Death in Rome' Robert Katz, 77, a writer and historian whose meticulous reconstruction of an infamous Nazi massacre in Rome brought him fame and sparked a trial over whether he defamed the pope, died Wednesday in a hospital near his home in Arezzo, Italy. His wife, Beverly Gerstel, said he died of complications from cancer surgery. Katz wrote extensively on 20th-century Italian history in books, essays and articles, some of which were made into films.

Personal diaries reputedly written by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini have appeared here, it was reported Sunday, and some experts said they seem to be genuine. If so, according to scholars, the five volumes covering the years 1935-39 would be a find of major historical importance. The Sunday Telegraph said it had uncovered the volumes 49 years after the death of Mussolini at the hands of Italian partisans at the end of World War II.

It began quietly, without warning. One morning, three young skinheads on a secret mission entered the crypt, donned black capes and took turns standing at grim attention by their hero's tomb. The next day, another stone-faced trio took up the 11-hour watch, and before many people noticed, the stealth vigil had become a daily routine. Today, nearly a year later, the ritual is an established fact: Benito Mussolini, the long-disgraced fascist dictator, has a posthumous honor guard.

Personal diaries reputedly written by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini have appeared here, it was reported Sunday, and some experts said they seem to be genuine. If so, according to scholars, the five volumes covering the years 1935-39 would be a find of major historical importance. The Sunday Telegraph said it had uncovered the volumes 49 years after the death of Mussolini at the hands of Italian partisans at the end of World War II.