A historical TV documentary about Giuseppe Donati and Umberto Calosso, two Italian politicians who opposed Mussolini’s Fascist government in Italy and were forced to seek  exile in Malta was screened at the Istituto Italiano di Cultura last Friday.

Giorgio Peresso presenting a copy of the book to President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

The documentary has been produced by PBS in collaboration with RAI, who through the intervention of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura provided PBS with raw historical footage related to the political activities of Donati and Calosso.

The documentary is based on the book Giuseppe Donati and Umberto Calosso – Two Italian anti-fascist refugees in Malta by historian Giorgio Peresso.

A copy of the book was recently presented to President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca at the Palace in Valletta. The President lauded Peresso for his  thorough research on these two political and intellectual  emigres.

Donati, who fled Italy after accusing Mussolini of organising the murder of Giacomo Matteotti, became friends with Nerik Mizzi and contributed regularly in Il Popolo. Calosso, who had fought in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans also established a deep relationship with the young Dom Mintoff, both living in Cospicua in the pre-World War II years.

The documentary has been shortlisted among the finalists for the National Book Prize 2016 in the section dedicated to Historical Research.