It was well-known that Benito Mussolini, the founder of modern fascism, had numerous extra-marital affairs throughout his political career. Some of his lovers, which included minors, became a threat to il Duce’s public image while others made significant contributions to Mussolini’s – and fascism’s – cultural and political success in Italy. In fact, without some of these “State lovers” it is difficult to imagine that Mussolini would have been able to dominate Italian politics in the years between the two World Wars. In this presentation, I will talk about the mistresses who helped determine or threaten the fortunes of Benito Mussolini and Italian fascism.

Dr. Nicholas Albanese is Associate Professor of Italian in the Department of Modern Language Studies at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He received his PhD from Indiana University in Italian Language and Culture and has taught extensively on Italian history, literature, and film both in Italy and the US. Dr. Albanese does research mainly on contemporary Italian history and culture with particular focus on Southern Italy and Sicily. His most recent publication discusses the ethics of story-telling in the works of the Sicilian author, Leonardo Sciascia. He is currently completing a project on 21st-century Italian apocalyptic fiction.