190 Randello di Presentatione an Roberto Farinacci,
Artistically carved wooden club, the symbol of the Italian Fascists in their struggle for power, which reached its climax in October 1922 with the March on Rome and the appointment of Benito Mussolini as Prime Minister. The handle with silver dedication band inscribed:
"GLI ARTIGIANI DI CREMONA A ROBERTO FARINACCI" (The Craftsmen of Cremona to Roberto Farinacci).
Roberto Farinacci (1892-1945) was Secretary of the National Fascist Party (PNF) (1925-1926). He was the architect of the conquest of Cremona in the days before the March on Rome.
Roberto Farinacci (born October 16, 1892 in Isernia, Molise; died April 28, 1945 in Vimercate, Lombardy) was an Italian lawyer, journalist, Fascist Blackshirt leader and politician. From February 1925 to March 1926 he was General Secretary of the Fascist Party. In the 1920s, Farinacci, through his anti-Semitic attitudes, was able to influence the party propaganda of the Fascists and was among the most prominent anti-Semites alongside Interlandi and Preziosi.
Farinacci, son of a security official, came with his family at the age of eight first to Tortona in Piedmont, then to Cremona. After elementary school he found employment in Cremona as a railway official and practiced this profession for twelve years. He showed political interests very early and became involved in the trade union movement, where he participated in the restructuring of the agricultural workers' union. Benito Mussolini invited him to collaborate on Il Popolo d'Italia. This collaboration was prevented by the outbreak of World War I, in which he participated as a volunteer. After the war he left the Partito Socialista Riformista Italiano with Leonida Bissolati and in March 1919 was a founding member of Mussolini's Fasci di Combattimento. Farinacci now endeavored to close his educational gaps. He succeeded in obtaining his high school diploma in a very short time, and subsequently earned his doctorate in law with a thesis that raised suspicions of plagiarism. Other sources speculate that he received his academic degree rather “honoris causa” and possibly under pressure. On the side, he was engaged in Cremona as “Ras” (Commander, loanword from Ethiopia) of the local Fascio, whereby his actions were characterized by particular brutality.
Within the party he rose rapidly. In 1921 Farinacci was elected deputy and initially worked together with Achille Starace on a major propaganda campaign in the Trentino/South Tyrol region. In 1922 he founded the newspaper Cremona Nuova, which was renamed Il Regime Fascista in 1929. He represented the right wing of the party, which considered Mussolini too liberal, and was there one of the most prominent representatives on the far right of the party who was already anti-Semitic early on. Conversely, Mussolini considered him too brutal and irresponsible. In 1925 Mussolini appointed him Party Secretary, whereby he rose to become the second most powerful man of the regime. But in 1926 there was a break. Farinacci resigned, thousands of Farinacci's radical supporters were removed from party offices. The Ras were disempowered and the state administration strengthened. Farinacci then worked as a lawyer. In 1935 he participated in the Abyssinian War as a member of the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN) and was promoted to Lieutenant General. While fishing with hand grenades he lost an arm. That same year he was admitted to the Fascist Grand Council, a clear sign that he had risen again in its favor. Farinacci participated as an observer in the Spanish Civil War, became minister in 1938 and advocated for the Italian racial laws (leggi razziali). As minister he promoted (motivated by Mussolini's 1937 visit to Hanover) to Germany a “Cremona-Hanover Axis,” whereby ideas such as student, university and worker exchange programs were developed, which however were not realized.
In 1939 Farinacci established the Premio Cremona, the first Italian prize for Fascist art, which was awarded until 1941.
War and End
When the war began, Farinacci was among the few functionaries who advocated for rapid entry into the war. He had very good connections to the Nazi leadership, particularly to Göring, and became Mussolini's advisor on Germany. In 1941 Farinacci became Inspector General of the militia deployed in Albania. In July 1943 he voted in the Grand Fascist Council for Mussolini. After Mussolini's arrest he fled to Germany, where consideration was already being given to entrusting him with the parts of Italy not yet occupied by the Allies. But then Otto Skorzeny succeeded in freeing Mussolini in Operation Eiche (Oak). Farinacci now returned to Cremona and no longer participated in political life. Toward the end of the war he was captured by partisans – he was in possession of 12 suitcases containing money and jewels – and was sentenced to death by a provisional court, to which representatives of all non-Fascist parties belonged, on April 28, 1945 and shot in Vimercate.
Mille Miglia
In 1928 Benito Mussolini had declared the automobile race Mille Miglia a national matter. Following a request from Mussolini, Farinacci started in 1928 as a driver in a Ceirano Tipo S 150, but retired from the race.
Highly interesting and significant object relating to the history of Italian Fascism.
Length 66 cm.