Torquato Nanni

Torquato Nanni (Santa Sofia, 4 February 1888 – Malacappa, 22 April 1945) was an Italian socialist politician and writer.

Biography As a young man, Nanni was a close friend of Benito Mussolini, with whom he maintained correspondence. He was the author of the first biography of Mussolini, which was published in mid-February 1915 in the editions of La Voce by Giuseppe Prezzolini. Nanni was a lawyer, and in March 1912 he was the first person from the Italian Socialist Party to be elected mayor of his town.

Despite Nanni's interventionist position, he never distanced himself from socialism and did not involve himself with the rise fascism in Italy. After the March on Rome he was about to be lynched by the Florentine Squadristi, led by Amerigo Dumini and supported by local landowners, but was saved by his friend Arpinati. During the 1920s he had to give up active politics, although he continued his journalistic and publishing activities.

Main works