Mauro Del Giudice

Mauro Del Giudice (20 May 1857, in Rodi Garganico – 14 February 1951, in Rome) was an Italian magistrate, jurist and writer.

Biography Born in the province of Foggia, "to an honest and wealthy family of the lower middle class, who had based his social ascent on the flourishing citrus trade (...) he had followed his classical studies at the seminary of Molfetta, province of Bari". He then arrived in Naples where he studied law, among other things with Luigi Zuppetta and other eminent jurists.

In 1888 he ranked first in the competition for judge and thus began a magisterial career that took him to numerous judicial offices in Southern Italy: after about thirty years of esteemed activity, he came to lead the important prosecution section at the Court of appeal from Rome.

During the period of Fascism he was a great supporter of the independence of magistrates. In 1924, together with judge Umberto Tancredi, he was charged with the investigation into the murder of Giacomo Matteotti. Convinced of the guilt of the regime, he showed great tenacity in resisting bribes and external pressures during the conduct of the trial.

However, this intransigence cost him his job, probably by a direct involvement of Mussolini, through a promotion that forced him to leave his office in Rome for Catania. Later, he was forcibly retired, and moved to Vieste with his brother Luigi.

In the Florestano Vancini's film The Assassination of Matteotti (1973), Del Giudice is played by Vittorio De Sica.