Rachele Mussolini

Rachele Mussolini (née Guidi; 11 April 1890 – 30 October 1979), also known (particularly in Italy) as Donna Rachele[1] (Italian for "Lady Rachael"), was the second wife of Italian dictator and fascist leader Benito Mussolini, the daughter-in-law of Alessandro Mussolini and Rosa Mussolini and the sister-in-law of Arnaldo Mussolini.

Rachele Mussolini
Born	Rachele Guidi 11 April 1890 Predappio Alta, Kingdom of Italy
Died	30 October 1979 (aged 89) Forlì, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Spouse(s)	Benito Mussolini ​ ​ (m. 1915; died 1945)​
Children	Edda Mussolini Vittorio Mussolini Bruno Mussolini Romano Mussolini Anna Maria Mussolini

Early life

Rachele Mussolini was born Rachele Guidi in Predappio, Romagna, Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia). She was born into a peasant family and was the daughter of Agostino Guidi and wife Anna Lombardi. After the death of her father, her mother became the lover of the widowed Alessandro Mussolini.

Relationship, marriage and children

In 1910, Rachele Guidi moved in with Alessandro's son, Benito Mussolini. In 1914, Mussolini married his first wife, Ida Dalser. Though the records of that marriage were destroyed by Mussolini's government, an edict from the city of Milan ordering Mussolini to make maintenance payments to "his wife Ida Dalser" and their child was overlooked.[2] Shortly before his son, Benito Albino Mussolini, was born to Ida Dalser, Rachele Guidi and Benito Mussolini were married in a civil ceremony in Treviglio, Lombardy on 17 December 1915. In 1925, they renewed their vows in a religious service (after his rise to power).

Rachele Mussolini bore five children by Benito Mussolini, and she was willing to ignore his various mistresses. Rachele and Benito Mussolini had two daughters, Edda (1910–1995) and Anna Maria (1929–1968), and three sons Vittorio (1916–1997), Bruno (1918–1941), and Romano (1927–2006).

During husband's regime

During the reign of Mussolini's Fascist regime, Rachele Mussolini was portrayed as the model Fascist housewife and mother. She remained loyal to Mussolini until the end but, on 28 April 1945, was not with him when he and his mistress, Claretta Petacci, were captured and executed by Italian partisans. Although she tried to flee from Italy after World War II, she was arrested in April 1945 in Como, close to Switzerland, by Italian partisans. She was turned over to the US Army and kept on Ischia Island but was released after several months.

Final years

In her later life, Rachele Mussolini ran a restaurant in her native village of Predappio, where she served pasta dishes. She eventually received a pension from the Italian Republic in 1975. It turned out that Mussolini had not received a salary from the state and so she could not receive a pension.

Author

With Albert Zarca, she wrote a biography of her husband that was translated into English as Mussolini: An Intimate Biography.[3]

See also

• Ida Dalser
• Claretta Petacci

References

1. "Rachele Mussolini Dies, Fascist Dictator's Widow". Washington Post. 31 October 1979.
2. Owen, Richard (13 January 2005). "Power-mad Mussolini sacrificed wife and son". The Times. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
3. Mussolini, Rachele; Zarca, Albert (1974). Mussolini: an intimate biography. Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-00266-4.