Galeazzo Ciano

Count
Galeazzo Ciano
Ciano in 1936
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
9 June 1936 – 6 February 1943
Prime MinisterBenito Mussolini
Preceded byBenito Mussolini
Succeeded byBenito Mussolini
Ambassador of Italy to Vatican City
In office
5 February 1943 – 25 July 1943
Preceded byRaffaele Guariglia
Succeeded byFrancesco Babuscio Rizzo
Minister of Press and Propaganda
In office
23 June 1935 – 11 June 1936
Prime MinisterBenito Mussolini
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byDino Alfieri
Member of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations
In office
23 March 1939 – 5 August 1943
Appointed byBenito Mussolini
Personal details
Born
Gian Galeazzo Ciano

(1903-03-18)18 March 1903
Livorno, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy
Died11 January 1944(1944-01-11) (aged 40)
Verona, Veneto, Italian Social Republic
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad
Political partyNational Fascist Party
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Spouse
​
(m. 1930)​
Children3
Parent(s)Costanzo Ciano (father)
Carolina Pini (mother)
Profession
  • Diplomat
  • politician
Signature

Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari (/ˈtʃɑːnoʊ/ CHAH-noh, Italian: [ɡaleˈattso ˈtʃaːno]; 18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944), was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Foreign Minister in the government of his father-in-law, Benito Mussolini, from 1936 until 1943. During this period, he was widely seen as Mussolini's most probable successor as head of government.[1][2]

He was the son of Admiral Costanzo Ciano, a founding member of the National Fascist Party; father and son both took part in Mussolini's March on Rome in 1922. Ciano saw action in the Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–36) and was appointed Foreign Minister on his return. Following a series of Axis defeats in the Second World War, Ciano began pushing for Italy's exit, and he was dismissed from his post as a result. He then served as ambassador to the Vatican.

In July 1943, Ciano was among the members of the Grand Council of Fascism that forced Mussolini's ousting and subsequent arrest. Ciano proceeded to flee to Germany but was arrested and handed over to Mussolini's new regime based in Salò, the Italian Social Republic. Mussolini ordered Ciano's death, and in January 1944 he was executed by firing squad.[3]

Ciano wrote and left behind a diary[4] that has been used as a source by several historians, including William Shirer in his The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960)[5] and in the four-hour HBO documentary-drama Mussolini and I (1985).[6]

  1. ^ d'Orsi, Angelo (10 April 2019). Flores d'Arcais, Paolo; Sciuto, Cinzia; Ruffolo, Giorgio (eds.). "Il genero del regime. Vita e morte di Galeazzo Ciano nel libro di Eugenio Di Rienzo". MicroMega (in Italian). Rome, Italy: Edito da Micromega Edizioni impresa sociale SRL (GEDI Gruppo Editoriale S.p.A.). ISSN 2282-121X. Archived from the original on 17 April 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  2. ^ Palla, Marco (10 January 1982). Rapone, Leonardo; Höbel, Alexander; Larussa, Alessandro (eds.). "Mussolini il fascista numero uno". Studi Storici (in Italian). 23 (1). Rome, Italy: Fondazione Istituto Gramsci: 23–49. ISSN 0039-3037. JSTOR 20565036. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  3. ^ Moseley, Ray (2004) [1932]. "7. Galeazzo Ciano and Edda". Mussolini: The last 600 of il Duce (5th ed.). Dallas, TX: Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 79. ISBN 9781589790957. LCCN 2003026579. OCLC 1036749435 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ Ciano 2002.
  5. ^ Shirer, William L. (17 October 1960). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. Vol. 2. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-72868-7. LCCN 60-6729. OCLC 22888118 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Negrin, Alberto (director); Gallo, Mario (producer); Gulllioli, Emzo (producer) Haskins, Bob (actor); Hopkins, Anthony (actor); Sarandon, Susan (actor) (15 April 1985). Perpignani, Roberto; Macchi, Egisto (eds.). Mussolini and I (Mussolini: The Decline and Fall of Il Duce). HBO (motion picture). Italy: Rai Uno/HBO Premier Films.