Giacomo Matteotti. Vita e morte di un padre della Democrazia

The exhibition traces the life of the socialist leader, deputy and secretary of the United Socialist Party (PSU), from his youthful beginnings to his national affirmation, from his battles for democracy to his opposition to fascism, whose totalitarian nature he was one of the first to understand, and finally to the brutal murder perpetrated by the Mussolini regime.

With the profound dignity and high sense of civic duty demonstrated at a tragic moment in our history, Matteotti became the archetype of the tenacious and incorruptible opponent of fascism. An example his, animated by a solid moral imperative and a strong civic impetus, which still questions the political and cultural life of our country.

On the strength of the authoritative nature of the institutions involved and rich in previously unpublished materials, the exhibition includes original documents - with particular reference to the investigative and judicial acts, never previously shown, which substantiate the interpretative path - including photographs, manuscripts, objects, period books, newspaper and magazine articles, films and documentaries, works of art, sculptures, ceramics, paintings, as well as musical pieces dedicated to the political leader.

The exhibition is divided into four sections, tracing Matteotti's life and the dramatic transition from the liberal state to the fascist dictatorship.

The section The Young Matteotti records his commitment in Polesine in favour of farm labourers and sharecroppers, his academic career, his advertising activity for 'La Lotta', and his membership of the Socialist Party.

The one on National Political Commitment 1919-1924, distinguishes his parliamentary activity, his political action against fascism, immediately considered a mortal danger to democratic institutions, and the squadrists, understood as the 'white guard' of agrarian interests and 'collaborationists', within the newly formed Psu of which he was secretary.

The section Kidnapping and Death 1924-1926, starting with the affirmation in the 1924 elections of the Psu as the strongest party of the left, includes the famous speech of 30 May 1924 in Parliament against the frauds and violence of the fascists, up to the kidnapping on 10 June 1924 in Rome, the assassination, the discovery of his body on 16 August and the trial-farce in Chieti.

Finally, the section The Myth of Matteotti, focuses on the politician's factual and ideal legacy, from the commemorations of the Matteotti Brigades to his enduring residence in the collective imagination because, as he himself said: 'Kill me, but you will never kill the idea in me... My idea does not die'.

The aim of the exhibition is to restore to the general public the value of one of the fathers of our democracy and to introduce the new generations to a remarkable politician and intellectual with multimedia insights, educational initiatives and immediate language.

"Giacomo Matteotti. Vita e morte di un padre della democrazia" (Life and Death of a Father of Democracy) is accompanied by the catalogue published by Treccani which, incorporating previously unpublished iconographic contributions and precious testimonies, contemplates the origins, activities and epilogue of a martyr of anti-fascism devoted to freedom.