Renato Candida

Renato Candida (30 September 1916 – 11 October 1988) was an Italian carabiniere. While stationed in Agrigento in Sicily, he wrote Questa mafia ("This Mafia") in 1956. This book was among the first to acknowledge the existence of the Mafia as a criminal organization—a fact often denied by authorities at the time. He served as the inspiration for the character Captain Bellodi, the protagonist of Leonardo Sciascia's best-selling crime novel The Day of the Owl (Il giorno della civetta).

Biography Renato Candida was born in Lecce on 30 September 1916, to Luigi and Elvira Storace. An officer in the 52nd Infantry Regiment "Alpi" of Spoleto, he transferred to the Royal Carabinieri Corps in 1939, and with the rank of second lieutenant, he was sent to Calabria. During World War II, he served in Montenegro and was promoted to captain for war merit.

After the armistice between Italy and the Allies on 8 September 1943 and the ensuing German occupation of Italy, Candida refused to collaborate with the German forces. This refusal resulted in forced transfers, imprisonment, internment, and a series of daring escapes. His journeys took him from Montenegro to Trieste, Milan, and eventually Switzerland. He later escaped internment in Switzerland and found refuge in Ossola. Here, in February 1945, he began his involvement in the Resistance as a partisan in the Strona Brigade of the Ossola Command until May 1945.

After the war, he rejoined the Carabinieri and was posted to Genoa, Alessandria, and Biella. By 1953, he was stationed in Turin. On 10 September 1955, with the rank of major, Candida was assigned to command the Carabinieri group in Agrigento in Sicily. In the summer of 1956, he authored the book Questa mafia ("This Mafia"). It was one of the first works to acknowledge the real presence of the Mafia organization in the Agrigento region, at a time when authorities often denied the existence of the Mafia as a criminal association. The book was considered groundbreaking because it broke the silence on the mafia phenomenon. A second edition was published in 1960, and a third in 1964. In 1983, a fourth edition was published with a preface by Leonardo Sciascia. In 2016, a fifth edition was published. Many believed that Bellodi was modeled after Carabinieri general Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, especially following his assassination by the Mafia in Palermo on 3 September 1982. Dalla Chiesa himself had identified as Captain Bellodi. However, Sciascia clarified that this was a misconception, revealing that Candida was the true inspiration. Sciascia's novel was adapted into the film of the same name in 1968 by Damiano Damiani, starring Franco Nero as Captain Bellodi.

Candida did not recognise himself in Captain Bellodi. He remarked: "That captain is too idealised; his relationship with the mafia boss may seem ambiguous. The boss is a real character, and the marshal who works alongside Bellodi is also credible. Bellodi is less so."

Candida died in Turin on 11 October 1988 at the age of 72.

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