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There were thousands of people who, as a result of their opposition to Benito Mussolini’s regime, had to seek refuge in other countries, but only two settled in Malta – Giuseppe Donati and Umberto Calosso.

A new book has been published to shed light on the lives and beliefs of the two Italian intellectuals, who influenced leading Maltese politicians on both sides of the political spectrum.

Giuseppe Donati and Umberto Calosso – Two Italian anti-fascist refugees in Malta is researched and written by Giorgio Peresso, who is known for his interest on the Malta angle of Anglo-Italian relations in the first half of the 20th century.

The political ideology of Donati and Calosso was not the same – the former laid emphasis on the Christian values of social issues, while the latter was more concerned with defending social issues primarily from a secular perspective, free from rigid doctrinaire theories. However, their common denominator was the defence of the democratic secular state and the restoration of democratic values.

Donati fled Italy after accusing Mussolini of organising the murder of Giacomo Matteotti. During his stay in Malta he became friends with Nerik Mizzi and contributed regularly to Il Popolo.

The book sheds light on the lives and beliefs of the Italian intellectuals, who influenced leading Maltese politicians on both sides of the political spectrum

Calosso, who had fought in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans, established a deep relationship with the young Dom Mintoff, both living in Cospicua in the pre-World War II years. Mintoff kept Calosso in high esteem, so much so that when he became Prime Minister in 1971, his government named a trade school in Santa Venera in the Italian socialist’s honour.

Both men shared common friends such as Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (Il Gross), Edward Scicluna (known as il-Kiks) and the Lyceum master Arnaldo Fabriani.

Calosso described Donati as: “the very man who accused Mussolini in the High Court for the murder of Matteotti and whose name was, for one day, on the front page of the European newspapers for this deed.” Donati’s stay in Malta lasted about nine months, while that of Calosso nine years. Both were masters of Italian at St Edward College.

The saga of Donati has been amply exposed throughout the years, but this book uncovers new material from archives and deals not only with his life before coming to Malta, but also with his role as educator in Malta.

Separated from his family and friends, he kept in touch with them through correspondence. In these letters he confided his moods, his state of health and his experience with the pupils. He left a series of observations about Malta at those particular scorching political times. Mizzi succeeded in luring him into his orbit and, with this liaison, Donati inadvertently defended Mussolini’s agenda – Italianità.

However, very little has been written about Calosso, with the last important work – mostly based on oral history as experienced by colleagues still living at the time – published in 1981.

While Donati circled around progressive Catholics spheres, Calosso was a free-thinking socialist and an erstwhile collaborator of Antonio Gramsci at the beginning of his political career.

Calosso left Malta in 1940 to set up anti-fascist hub in Tunis, a short-lived experience. After a spell in Cairo, he moved to London broadcasting on a BBC programme Radio Londra. Upon his return to Italy in 1944, he was eager to contribute to the country’s reconstruction and was elected to parliament in 1948. He died in Rome in 1959.

To compile the book, the author consulted a voluminous range of secondary sources, as well as revealing for the first time a number of documents pertaining to Donati’s and Calosso’s Malta links. The book also includes a number of pictures of the people with whom Donati and Calosso were associated.

The book is published by SKS Publications.

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