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Franco Freda
Franco "Giorgio" Freda (born 11 February 1941) is an Italian neo-fascist intellectual, author, revolutionary and political theorist. A major figure of the post-war far-right politics in Italy, Freda has been particularly associated with neo-fascism and revolutionary nationalism, advocating for a radical transformation of society along nationalist and revolutionary lines. Born in 1941, Freda became influential in the Italian Right during the 1960s and 1970s through his writings and political activities. Freda founded Edizioni di Ar in 1963, a publishing house for neo-fascist thought. His most prominent work, La Disintegrazione del Sistema (1969), which mixed Evolian and Marxist notions, critiques Western democratic and liberal systems and advocates for a coalition between the radical right and the radical left in order to destroy the capitalist system.[2] In 1969, during the Years of Lead, a period in Italian history marked by political violence and terrorism, Freda and Giovanni Ventura were accused of being involved in the Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan, although Freda was later acquitted for lack of evidence for involvement in the bombing.[3][4][5] New evidence surfaced later and in 2004 the Milan Court of Appeal attributed the bombing to Freda and Ventura.[6] In 1990, Freda founded the Fronte Nazionale, which was disbanded by the Italian government in 2000 when Freda and forty-eight other members were found guilty of attempting to re-establish the National Fascist Party. BiographyFreda was born in Padua, Italy. He began his political career as the leader of the FUAN-Caravella of Padua (the undergraduates association of the Italian Social Movement) when he was a law student. In 1963, he founded the Group of Ar, based on the philosophy of Julius Evola, and managed a far-right library. Later, when the Group of Ar was disbanded, he founded the Edizioni di Ar (Ar Publishing), a publishing house that brought out books by Traditionalist figures like Evola and René Guenon. Edizioni di Ar is still active today and continues to offer philosophical and political contemporary far-right essays, as well as reissuing books by nineteenth- and twentieth-century writers like Arthur de Gobineau, Oswald Spengler, Friederich Nietzsche, and Alfred Baeumler.[7] In 1969, Freda published The Disintegration of the System, which became an important text for the Italian far-right.[8] In this book, Freda broke the classical anticommunist stance of the far-right and proposed a strategic alliance between the far-left and the far-right to subvert capitalist society. Freda's approach ideologically justified the merging of ultra-radicals from opposite flanks in a common struggle against the Western liberal state and Soviet communism, which was also opposed by Mao's regime in China.[9] He also began to criticise the MSI leadership, accusing it of compromising with the "agonizing democracy of the Republic". This position, along with the proposal of a hierarchical, collectivist State which found its roots explicitly in Plato, earned him the title of "Nazi-Maoist". Freda's ideology influenced many 1970s far-right Italian groups, such as the Lotta di Popolo and Terza Posizione.[10][11] Freda called himself a "scholar of ethnicity" and proposed the principles of a "morphological racism". He also described himself as an admirer of Hitler. After contacts with Pino Rauti, he participated in the activities of Ordine Nuovo, even though he never formally joined the movement. From 1971 onwards, he was put on trial several times, notably for his alleged involvement in the Piazza Fontana bombing. Although eventually acquitted of involvement in the bombing he spent several years in jail for the crime of "subversive association". In 1990, he founded the far-right movement Fronte Nazionale and began publishing the journal L'Antibancor, about economical and financial studies.[12] Fronte Nazionale, which opposed both globalization and multicultural society, was disbanded by the Italian government in 2000, on the grounds of the Mancino law. Freda and 48 other members were found guilty of "reconstruction of the Fascist party" (which is illegal in Italy). Freda is still present in the far-right scene as an ideologue and publisher, although public appearances and writings are rare.[citation needed] Alleged involvement in the Piazza Fontana bombingOn 3 March 1972, Freda, his friend Giovanni Ventura, and Pino Rauti, an Italian Social Movement organiser and founder of the far-right movement Ordine Nuovo, were arrested. They were accused of having planned the 25 April 1969 terrorist attacks at the Milan Fair and Railway Station, and of several other attacks on trains carried out on 8 and 9 August of the same year. Freda and Ventura were later accused of involvement in the Piazza Fontana bombing. Investigators gave several reasons they believed the pair were involved:[6]
In 1974, the trial was moved from Milan to Catanzaro. On 4 October 1978 the police discovered that Freda had disappeared from the Catanzaro apartment where he had been staying. On 23 February 1979 he was found guilty for the Piazza Fontana bombing and sentenced to life imprisonment. On 23 August 1979, Freda was arrested in Costa Rica and extradited to Italy. Several more trials followed. On 20 March 1981 Freda was sentenced to 15 years of jail for "subversive association". However his life sentence for the Piazza Fontana bombing was overturned on 1 August 1985 for lack of evidence. Ventura's sentence was also overturned. In 1987 he was acquitted by the supreme Court of Cassation for lack of evidence.[13] In the 1990s, new investigations into Piazza Fontana were made. Investigators have claimed that due to new witnesses they believe Freda and Ventura were involved in the terrorist attack. The pair cannot be put on trial again as they were acquitted of the crime in 1987.[13][6] In a 2004 trial of neo-fascists, the Milan Court of Appeal attributed the bombing to Freda and Ventura.[6] Bibliography
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