Name Domenico Leccisi | Role Italian Politician | |
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Died November 2, 2008, Milan, Italy | ||
Domenico Leccisi (20 May 1920 - 2 November 2008) was an Italian politician, who is best known for stealing the corpse of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from an unmarked grave in 1946.
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Grave robbing incident
On the eve of the first anniversary of Italy's liberation from Nazi occupying forces, Leccisi, then a right-wing journalist, and two helpers dug up the corpse from the city's Musocco cemetery and spirited it away.
Leccisi left behind a note that said: "Finally, O Duce, you are with us. We will cover you with roses but the smell of your virtue will overpower those roses."
Authorities discovered Mussolini's remains four months later, hidden at a 15th-century monastery at Pavia south of Milan. Two monks were charged with hiding the body.
In 1957 Mussolini found a final resting place at his birthplace in Predappio, northern Italy, after a campaign led by Leccisi and his party.
Political career
Leccisi served as a parliamentary deputy for the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement from 1953 to 1963. He was also a Milan city councillor and wrote an autobiography, "With Mussolini Before and After Piazzale Loreto".
Death
Leccisi died at age 88 on 2 November 2008 at a retirement home in Milan due to heart and respiratory disease.