elegance of history blog: History geek, avid reader and art lover. Here you will find random bits of history, book reviews and musings on art, literature, manners, life, music and anything else that interests me.
On 1 September 1939, World War II broke out. But Italy didn’t enter the war straight away. Its army wasn’t ready and its people against the war, so for the moment Mussolini had no choice but to declare that Italy would remain neutral. Edda thought this was a mistake. She wanted Italy to join the
Antonio Spinosa, a journalist and historian, was a very prolific writer. He published a lot of books and articles throughout his life but most of his work focuses on the various forms of dictatorship throughout history, and Fascism in particular. Unfortunately most of his books are now hard to come by and I’m not sure
At about three in the morning on 1st September 1910, in Forlì’, the first daughter of Benito Mussolini and Rachele Guidi was born. The baby was given the name Edda Rosa Edvige. Rosa was the name of Benito’s mother, Edvige that of his younger sister. Edda, instead, was inspired by Hedda Glamer, a play by
Mussolini didn’t want his daughter to go to school. Instead, he had planned to home school Edda after his return from the war. His wife Rachele didn’t agree with this plan and enrolled their daughter at a primary school near their house. Both her parents, though, opposed Edda’s idea of enrolling at a dance school
As a teenager, Edda Mussolini wasn’t a beauty but she had a strong personality. She was confident, bold and always looked into a man’s eyes when talking to him. She was also one of the first Italian women to drive a car, would wear makeup, trousers and, at the beach, skimpy swimsuits. She was different
The new Count and Countess Ciano spent their honeymoon on the Capri island, where they were triumphantly received by a big crowd. The couple was staying in a four-room suite at the Hotel Quisisana, and, upon their arrival, they found a telegram from Mussolini, who wanted to be the first person to salute them in
The Cianos were back in Rome. The Italian capital just wasn’t as exciting as Shangai, despite the fact it was undergoing a major transformation, with the construction of new monuments and streets inspired by the architectural styles of ancient Rome. But was the city really changing? Or behind this new facade were things still the
