Luigi Russo

He participated in the First World War as a Bersaglieri officer, with the rank of captain and later major, being wounded and twice awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valor during the Tenth and Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo.[1][2] Having ended the war with the rank of colonel, he was later a member of the National Directory of the National Veterans Association (of which he was later commissioner from 1925 to 1927).[3] In 1922 he joined the National Fascist Party, with which he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 1924.[4][5] From 6 February to 22 September 1927 he served as podestà (mayor) of Udine, then as Prefect of Chieti (from 16 September 1927 to 1 August 1932), La Spezia (1 August 1932–25 July 1935) and Forlì (25 July–4 October 1935).[6][7][8]

Russo and General Federico Baistrocchi reviewing a Blackshirt unit in Rome, March 1936

In 1923 he became console (colonel) in the Volunteer Militia for National Security, then console generale (brigadier general) in 1929 and luogotenente generale (major general) from January 1936; in 1935 he became Chief of Staff of the MVSN until 1939.[9] He was also a member of the National Directorate of the PNF, and in 1939 he became a member of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations.[10] He was Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the Mussolini Cabinet from 31 October 1939 to 6 February 1943, after which he was appointed Senator of the Kingdom.[11][12]

After the armistice of Cassibile he joined the Italian Social Republic, where he was commissioner of the National Veterans' Organisation. On 7 August 1944 he was referred to the High Court of Justice for Sanctions against Fascism, which on 22 March 1945 revoked his seat as senator; after the end of the war Russo appealed this sentence, but without success.[13]