Cesare Rossi

Cesare Rossi (21 September 1887, in Pescia – 9 August 1967, in Rome) was an Italian fascist leader who later became estranged from the regime.

Syndicalism Rossi began his political career on the left with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and as a writer for various syndicalist journals. However he left the PSI in 1907 to serve in the Italian Army and did not rejoin following his demobilisation. Working with Mussolini he also developed a strategy of trying to win over the left into a cross-class alliance. He attained the rank of assistant secretary of the movement in 1921 and was effective leader in Tuscany whilst he went on to sit on the National Fascist Party national council and the Grand Council of Fascism. Following this seizure of power Rossi was appointed director of Mussolini's Press and Propaganda Office.

Allegations of murder Rossi's rise through the ranks of the fascist state came to an abrupt end in 1924 with the murder of Giacomo Matteotti, after he was accused of being responsible. It was argued that Rossi, who had flown into a rage after one of the two speeches that sealed Matteotti's fate, had ordered his deputy Amerigo Dumini to kill the Socialist deputy for his anti-fascism.

Rossi fled to France and then Switzerland to escape prosecution and became a critic of fascism in his exile. He was tricked into returning to Italy in 1928, where he was arrested by fascist police. In 1929, he was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for anti-fascist activities. In 1940, Rossi was exiled to the island of Ponza until December 1942. In November 1943, he was arrested by the Allies. He was released in March 1944. A tribunal in Rome later sentenced Rossi to 4 years and two months in prison for other crimes, although he was quickly pardoned. In 1947, he was arrested for his involvement in the murder of Matteotti. However, Rossi was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. He then returned to journalism, and abandoned politics. He died in 1967.

In the Florestano Vancini's film The Assassination of Matteotti (1973), Rossi is played by Cesare Barbetti. In Joe Wright's miniseries Mussolini: Son of the Century (2025), he is played by Francesco Russo.