Rodolfo Graziani

Rodolfo Graziani
Rodolfo Graziani in 1940
Minister of National Defence of the Italian Social Republic
In office 23 September 1943 – 25 April 1945
President	Benito Mussolini
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Governor-General of Italian East Africa
In office 11 June 1936 – 21 December 1937
Monarch	Victor Emmanuel III
Prime Minister	Benito Mussolini
Preceded by	Pietro Badoglio
Succeeded by	Amedeo, Duke of Aosta
Governor-General of Italian Libya
In office 1 July 1940 – 25 March 1941
Preceded by	Italo Balbo
Succeeded by	Italo Gariboldi
Governor of Italian Somaliland
In office 6 March 1935 – 9 May 1936
Preceded by	Maurizio Rava
Succeeded by	Angelo De Ruben
Vice-Governor of Italian Cyrenaica
In office 17 March 1930 – 31 May 1934
Preceded by	Domenico Siciliani
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	(1882-08-11)11 August 1882 Filettino, Kingdom of Italy
Died	11 January 1955(1955-01-11) (aged 72) Rome, Italy
Resting place	Cemetery of Affile, Italy
Political party	National Fascist Party (1924–1943) Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945) Italian Social Movement (1946–1955)
Spouse(s)	Ines Chionetti ​ (m. 1913⁠–⁠1955)​ ; his death
Children	One daughter
Alma mater	Military Academy of Modena
Profession	Military officer
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Italy (1900–1943)  Italian Social Republic (1943–1945)
Branch/service	Kingdom of Italy (1900–1943)  Italian Social Republic (1943–1945)
Years of service	1900–1945
Rank	Marshal of Italy
Unit	Italian 10th Army Army Group Liguria
Battles/wars	World War I Pacification of Libya Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II North African campaign Italian campaign

Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquis of Neghelli (Italian pronunciation: [roˈdɔlfo ɡratˈtsjaːni]; 11 August 1882 – 11 January 1955), was a prominent Italian military officer in the Kingdom of Italy's Royal Army, primarily noted for his campaigns in Africa before and during World War II. A dedicated fascist and prominent member of the National Fascist Party, he was a key figure in the Italian military during the reign of Victor Emmanuel III.

Graziani played an important role in the consolidation and expansion of the Italian colonial empire during the 1920s and 1930s, first in Libya and then in Ethiopia. He became infamous for harsh repressive measures, such as the use of concentration camps that caused many civilian deaths, and for extreme measures taken against the native resistance of the countries invaded by the Italian army, such as the hanging of Omar Mukhtar. Due to his brutal methods used in Libya, he was nicknamed Il macellaio del Fezzan ("the butcher of Fezzan").^[1] In February 1937, after an assassination attempt against him during a ceremony in Addis Ababa, Graziani ordered a period of brutal retribution now known as Yekatit 12. Shortly after the Kingdom of Italy entered World War II, he returned to Libya as the commander of troops in Italian North Africa but resigned after the 1940–41 British offensive routed his forces; this campaign caused him other stress attacks, which he suffered from a snake accident during his military service in Libya a few years before World War I.

Following the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy in 1943, he was the only Marshal of Italy who remained loyal to Benito Mussolini and was named the Minister of Defence of the Italian Social Republic, commanding its army and returning to active service against the Allies for the rest of the war. Graziani was never prosecuted by the United Nations War Crimes Commission; he was included on its list of Italians eligible to be prosecuted for war crimes but Allied opposition and indifference to the prosecution of Italian war criminals frustrated Ethiopian attempts to bring him to justice. In 1950, an Italian court sentenced Graziani to 19 years of imprisonment for his collaboration with the Nazis; he was released after serving only four months. In the last years of his life, he went into politics, entering in the Italian Social Movement and becoming also Honorary President in 1953, probably for his career during the Fascist period in Italy, and died a few years later in 1955.