Guido Keller

Guido Keller (6 February 1892 – 9 November 1929) was an Italian aviator and political activist who was closely associated with Gabriele D’Annunzio and played an important role in the seizure of Fiume in 1919.

Early life Guido Keller was born in Milan on 6 February 1892 into a family of the local aristocracy with Swiss origins. As a teenager, he attended the Swiss college of Trotzen, but was expelled for his lack of discipline.

First World War The outbreak of the First World War saw him serve as a lieutenant in the Royal Italian Army. Attracted by flying, he obtained his pilot's licence at the civilian flying club at the Torino-Mirafiori airfield. These units were named after medieval privateers of the Adriatic, the Uskoks, and their role was to secure the weapons and supplies needed by D’Annunzio's regime, resorting in many cases to outright piracy.

Keller was responsible for acts of piracy and theft, such as the occasion when he stole a pig and loaded it onto his plane. The animal was so heavy that it broke through the bottom of his fuselage and he landed with its legs sticking out. Keller carried a tea set with biscuits on his plane, contributing to his reputation as a refined dandy.

As a protest against the signing of the Treaty of Rapallo, he flew over Rome in an Ansaldo SVA biplane to drop bouquets of flowers on the Vatican and Quirinale hills, as a gesture of homage, as well as an enamelled chamber-pot with a bunch of carrots and turnips on Palazzo Montecitorio, seat of the Chamber of Deputies, as a gesture of contempt, with a message attached that read “To the parliament and government based on lies and fear, the allegorical embodiment of their value.” During the return flight, bad weather forced him to land, and when peasants came to his assistance, he discovered that he had inadvertently landed in the Republic of San Marino. Welcomed by the authorities there, he improvised a message from D’Annunzio to the Italian government before securing diplomatic credentials from the republic that allowed him to return freely to Fiume, bypassing the blockade imposed by the Italian army. which adopted the swastika as one of its symbols. The group had esoteric and naturist tendencies and Keller was often portrayed nude in photos of the time. He slept semi-nude at the top of a tree together with his pet eagle. A habitual user of cocaine, he was also a devotee of group sex, including with male partners.

After Fiume Disappointed and embittered, Keller left for Turkey, where he tried to create an airline, but his venture was not successful. Returning to Italy he joined the fascist movement, although the fascists never really trusted him because of his bitter criticisms. He took part in the March on Rome. In 1923 he returned to military flying, and was named aeronautical attaché to the Italian embassy in Berlin. Following D'Annunzio's wish, he was buried on the Colle delle Arche on his estate, the Vittoriale degli Italiani in Gardone Riviera,

On 1 September 1920, he received his second award for bravery in aerial combat in engagements over the Carso in September and October 1917, over Monte Franchini in November 1917 and over the Piave in May 1918.

On 2 June 1921, he was again decorated for his bravery over the Piave in July, August and October 1918, including the engagement in which he was forced to land and taken prisoner.