Giacomo Matteotti

Giacomo Matteotti ( Italian: [ˈdʒaːkomo matteˈɔtti] ; 22 May 1885 – 10 June 1924) was an Italian socialist, anti-fascist politician and an opposition leader, who was the secretary of the Unitary Socialist Party (PSU) from 1922 to 1924. Born in the province of Rovigo in Fratta Polesine, he was a militant socialist from a young age, joining the youth wing of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) in 1898 and then the main party around 1900. In 1907, he graduated in law at the University of Bologna. A lawyer by degree and a journalist by trade, Matteotti was a follower of Filippo Turati, a co-founder of the PSI and leader of the gradualist wing. Politically, his name is associated with democratic socialism and social democracy, and his thought is summarised as reformist socialist, radical reformist, and revolutionary reformist.

Matteotti was elected mayor of Villamarzana in the Italian region of Veneto in 1912. In line with the law allowing the possibility of being elected in all the towns where taxes were paid, he also entered the municipal councils of several towns of Veneto, and was appointed deputy mayor of Fratta Polesine and councillor of Frassinelle Polesine. In 1914, Matteotti was re-elected to the provincial council. Matteotti's opposition to the Great War resulted in him being interned in the Italian region of Sicily. In the 1919 Italian general election, Matteotti was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies, where the PSI was the most voted party and became the largest political group.