Indro Montanelli

Indro Montanelli, born on April twenty-second, nineteen oh nine, was a prominent Italian journalist, historian, and writer whose career spanned several decades. Initially a volunteer in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and an admirer of Benito Mussolini's regime, Montanelli experienced a significant ideological shift in nineteen forty-three. He joined the liberal resistance group Giustizia e Libertà, but was arrested by Nazi authorities in nineteen forty-four along with his wife. Facing a death sentence, he managed to escape to Switzerland just before his execution, aided by a double agent from the secret service.

After World War II, Montanelli resumed his role at Corriere della Sera, where he had begun working in nineteen thirty-eight. He became known as a liberal-conservative columnist, advocating for a political right that was cultured, sober, and skeptical of mass society. His career was marked by his staunch anti-communism and his intransigent views, which often put him at odds with prevailing political currents. In nineteen seventy-seven, he was attacked by the Red Brigades, an event that left him physically scarred, yet he later expressed forgiveness towards his assailants.

In nineteen seventy-three, Montanelli left Corriere della Sera due to its perceived leftward shift and took on the role of editor-in-chief at il Giornale, a newspaper owned by Silvio Berlusconi. However, his opposition to Berlusconi's political ambitions led him to resign and establish il Giornale nuovo in nineteen seventy-four. After Berlusconi's entry into politics in nineteen ninety-four, Montanelli returned to Corriere della Sera in nineteen ninety-five, where he continued to write until his death. His legacy is complex, as both the Italian centre-left and centre-right have sought to claim him, often overlooking his conservative roots in favor of his anti-Berlusconi stance.