Giovanni Antonio Colonna di Cesarò

Italian nobleman and politician (1878–1940)

Giovanni Antonio Colonna di Cesarò


Minister of Post and Telegraphs
In office February 1922 – 1924
Prime Minister	Benito Mussolini
Succeeded by	Costanzo Ciano
Minister of Post and Telegraphs
In office 15 May 1921 – 1921
Prime Minister	Giovanni Giolitti

Personal details
Born	Giovanni Antonio Francesco Giorgio Landolfo Colonna Romano 1878
Died	1940 (aged 61–62)
Political party	Social Democracy
Spouse	Barbara Antonelli
Children	Simonetta Colonna di Cesarò

Giovanni Antonio Colonna di Cesarò (1878–1940) was an Italian noble and politician who was the leader of the Social Democracy. He also served as the minister of post and telegraphs between 1922 and 1924 in the Mussolini Cabinet. He was known as the "anthroposophist duke".^[1]

Biography

Colonna was born in 1878.^[1] From 1907, he started his political career and became a member of the parliament in the period 1909–1921.^[2] He founded and published a magazine entitled Rassegna contemporanea which is among the early anthroposophical publications.^[1] As of 1914, he was a member of the Italian National Olympic Committee.^[3]

Following the general elections on 15 May 1921 Colonna was named as the minister of post and telegraphs in the cabinet led by Giovanni Giolitti.^[2] He was appointed minister of posts to the cabinet headed by Luigi Facta on 25 February 1922, but he resigned from office soon being succeeded by Luigi Fulci in the post.^[4] In 1922, Colonna established the Social Democracy party and joined the government of Benito Mussolini as the minister of post and telegraphs, which he held until his resignation in February 1924.^[1] He was replaced by Costanzo Ciano in the post.^[5] Following this incident, Colonna retired from politics.^[1] His another magazine was Lo Stato Democratico (Italian: The Democratic State) which also published anthroposophical articles.^[6]

Close to the environments of esotericism and Roman neopaganism of those years, Colonna was part of the UR Group which was established in 1927 (perhaps with the pseudonym of "Arvo",^[7] or with those of "Krur" and "Breno").^[8]

Personal life and death

Colonna was married to Barbara Antonelli, a noblewoman of Russian origins, and their daughter was Simonetta Colonna di Cesarò.^[9] He died in 1940.^[6]

Views

Colonna was an advocate of colonialism and democratic imperialism.^[1] During World War I he supported the intervention of the Italian Empire through his writings in Rassegna contemporanea which also reflected his radical national views.^[1] However, Colonna did not have a consistent political ideology. Instead, he adopted different political views depending on the conditions.^[1] Following his retirement from politics Colonna became an anti-Fascist.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Peter Staudenmaier (2012). "Anthroposophy in Fascist Italy". In Arthur Versluis; Lee Irwin; Melinda Phillips (eds.). Esotericism, Religion, and Politics. Minneapolis, MN: New Cultures Press. pp. 83–84. ISBN 978-1596500136.
^ ^a ^b Marc Raboy (2016). Marconi: The Man Who Networked the World. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 463. ISBN 978-0-19-931359-4.
^ Tito Forcellese (2020). "Italian aristocrats and their involvement in sports institutions, 1894–1914". In Peter Heyrman; Jan de Maeyer (eds.). Leisure and Elite Formation. Arenas of Encounter in Continental Europe, 1815-1914. Berlin; Boston, MA: De Gruyter Oldenbourg. p. 174. doi:10.1515/9783110585193. ISBN 9783110582307. S2CID 243202437.
^ "Italy's new cabinet and the Fiume episode". Current History. 16 (1): 168. 1922. doi:10.1525/curh.1922.16.1.168. JSTOR 45329293. S2CID 249070830.
^ Goffredo Adinolfi (September 2004). "Fascist Era Elites (2). The Fascist ministerial elite". Portuguese Journal of Social Science. 3 (2): 94. doi:10.1386/pjss.3.2.91/0.
^ ^a ^b Julius Evola (2018). Introduction to Magic: Rituals and Practical Techniques for the Magus. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions/Bear. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-62055-857-7.
^ Michele Beraldo (2006). "L'Antroposofia e il suo rapporto con il Regime Fascista". In Gianfranco de Turris (ed.). Esoterismo e fascismo: storia, interpretazioni, documenti (in Italian). Rome: Edizioni mediterranee. p. 83. ISBN 978-88-272-1831-0.
^ Renato Del Ponte, Evola and the magical Group of UR. Studies and documents to serve the history of «Ur-Krur», Borzano (Reggio Emilia), SeaR, 1994, cf. Maurizio Martucci (2018). "Il magico Gruppo di Ur-Krur" (in Italian).
^ Marianna Barracane (28 October 2023). "La vita di Simonetta Colonna di Cesarò". Harper's Bazaar (in Italian). Retrieved 19 December 2023.