Maurizio Giglio

Maurizio Giglio (20 December 1920 – 24 March 1944) was an Italian soldier and policeman. In September 1943, during World War II, the Italian government concluded an armistice with the Allies. He thereafter transmitted military intelligence by radio from Rome about the Nazi forces there to the Allied forces advancing through southern Italy. In March 1944, he was captured and was executed by the Nazis. He was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour , a decoration which acknowledges deeds of outstanding gallantry. Places have been named, and memorials dedicated, in his honour.

Biography Early years Giglio was born into a middle-class family in Rome. His parents were Armando and Anna . He had a sister, Giulia Adriani, who outlived him by many years.

Maurizio spent his boyhood between France and Rome. From 1933 to 1938, he studied at the , graduating in law. He was a keen sportsman: hunting, skiing, swimming, mountaineering, and motoring.

Secret agent He began a double life. To public eyes - and, most importantly, to German and Italian collaborationist eyes - he was a uniformed police officer. In private, he created a network of informants. These included Giuliano Vassalli and , and Colonel Giuseppe Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, leader of the Clandestine Military Front (a resistance organisation). A priest helped him by concealing the radio transmitter in his own church. (The identity of the helpful priest is uncertain.) One source says that it was Monsignor Nobles of Sant'Agnese in Agone. He helped fugitives from the fascist authorities to escape to the western (Tyrrhenian) coast of Italy, from where they could be rescued by Allied MTBs.The sources say that fugitives were embarked at Grossetano,

Posthumous recognition

In 1944, the Gold Medal of Military Valour, an Italian high military decoration, was conferred upon Giglio. The citation reads:

An English translation:

There are also tangible memorials. Caserma Maurizio Giglio of the Polizia di Stato in the Roman quarter of - in effect, the police headquarters building of Rome. A lecture theatre at the , Rome, named after him. Via Maurizio Giglio, a street at the junction of Via Cassia and Via Trionfale, Rome. Via Maurizio Giglio, a street in Santa Marinella, Rome. A memorial plaque in Piazza Navona, near the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, Rome. A memorial plaque in Largo della Gancia, in the Roman quarter of Della Vittoria.