Alessandra Mussolini

Alessandra Mussolini was born in Rome, the daughter of Romano Mussolini, the fourth child of Benito Mussolini, fascist dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943, and Marianna Pia Villani Scicolone (born 11 May 1938, Rome). Actress Sophia Loren is her maternal aunt. She has a half-sister, Rachele Mussolini, who is also a politician as a member of Brothers of Italy.

From 1976 to 1980 she went to high school at the American Overseas School of Rome. She graduated in 1994 from Sapienza University of Rome, where she got her Master of Science in medicine and surgery.

She married customs policeman Mauro Floriani on 28 October 1989. Contrary to tradition, she proposed to him.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E7DD1531F936A25752C1A962958260 "Chronicle"] Nadine Brozan, The New York Times, 15 November 1994. Together they have three children,{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/10690087/Mussolini-grand-daughters-husband-in-prostitution-probe.html|title=Mussolini grand-daughter's husband in prostitution probe|first=Nick|last=Squires|date=11 March 2014|work=The Telegraph}} Caterina, Clarissa, and Romano — the last named after his grandfather. Later, the children adopted their mother's surname, but she went through a complex legal process to allow them to do so. She has since campaigned for Italian law to be changed to allow all children to take their mother's last name if they wish.[https://web.archive.org/web/20060914025638/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2006%2F05%2F31%2Fwmuss31.xml "Mussolini calls for new naming law"] Malcolm Moore, The Daily Telegraph, 31 May 2006

Her husband was one of the accused scheduled to appear in court for a child prostitution trial in 2015. In 2013, Floriani was one of around 50 men—among them celebrities, professionals, priests, journalists and politicians—who were accused of paying two teenage girls, aged 14 and 15, for sexual services in Rome.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11693531/Mussolini-granddaughters-husband-to-go-on-trial-for-paying-for-sex-with-teenage-prostitutes.html|title=Mussolini granddaughter's husband to go on trial for 'paying for sex with teenage prostitutes'|date=23 June 2015|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}} Wiretaps revealed he was one of the clients who contacted the girls most often. In 2015, Floriani pled guilty to soliciting the services of an underage prostitute, and received a one-year suspended sentence.{{Cite news |date=22 October 2015 |title=Mussolini's husband gets a year |url=https://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2015/10/22/mussolinis-husband-gets-a-year_94006ff1-a72d-4a27-b3fb-6ffc4e097f81.html |access-date=26 October 2024 |work=Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata}}

She is first cousin once-removed to Caio Giulio Cesare Mussolini, Benito Mussolini's great-grandson, who ran for the Fratelli d’Italia party in the 2019 European Parliament election.{{cite news|url=http://www.italianinsider.it/?q=node/8158|title=Mussolini's progeny voted down in EU elections|date=31 May 2019|newspaper=Italian Insider}} She considers herself Roman Catholic, although she does not attend Mass regularly.{{cite magazine|last=Giordano|first=Lucio|title=È la mia àncora di salvezza, mi affido a Lui quando sono disperata|language=it|magazine=Dipiù|date=16 July 2021|number=28|pages=98–101}}

In 2001, Mussolini was involved in an altercation while filming for a Porta a Porta talk show episode on sexual harassment. She was verbally accosted by Katia Bellillo, then Minister for Equal Opportunities, who got up and approached Mussolini. In response Mussolini verbally and physically attacked Bellillo, calling her an "ugly communist" who should "go and live in Cuba."{{Cite web|url=https://www.repubblica.it/online/politica/vespa/video/video.html|title=la Repubblica/politica: Calci e insulti il duello e' servito|last=Tonelli|first=Matteo|date=31 January 2001|website=www.repubblica.it|access-date=2019-04-03}}

She has been a painter since 2014 and her first solo exhibition was held during 2015 in Rome.[https://www.corriere.it/foto-gallery/politica/15_gennaio_28/alessandra-mussolini-pittrice-80c7d04c-a6f4-11e4-93fc-9b9679dd4aa0.shtml?nome=0&cognome=0&dataNascita=01/01/1990&email=0&idIniziativa=5&nomeIniziativa=Evento%2520Motoraduno&indirizzoResidenza=0 Alessandra Mussolini pittrice][https://www.lastampa.it/cultura/2015/01/29/fotogalleria/il-debutto-da-pittrice-di-alessandra-mussolini-1.35309170 Debutto da pittrice di Alessandra Mussolini]

Mussolini was taken under the wing of her aunt Sophia Loren for a while and started a career as an actress in the Italian film industry during the 1970s. A Special Day (1977), in which she had a minor role as "Maria Luisa," won an American Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

During 1982, Mussolini released a pop music album of romantic songs under the title Amore on Alfa Records; the album was released only in Japan and has since become something of a collectors item.{{cite news|url=http://www.orrorea33giri.com/2007/04/alessandra-mussolini-amore-1982.html|work=Orrore a 33 Giri|title=Alessandra Mussolini – Amore (1982)|date=13 April 2007|access-date=3 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209003430/http://www.orrorea33giri.com/2007/04/alessandra-mussolini-amore-1982.html|archive-date=9 February 2008|url-status=dead}}

Mussolini also appeared as a glamour model,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3382151.stm|work=BBC News|title=Italy's post-fascists to regroup|date=9 January 2004|access-date=3 January 2008|author=Jan Repa}} including on the cover of two European editions of Playboy, in Italy (August 1983) and Germany (November 1983).{{cite news|url=http://www.pbcovers.com/pbcovers.php?c=it&y=1983&cover=it_198308|work=PBCovers|title=Playboy Italy – Covers of 1983|date=August 1983|access-date=3 January 2008|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071225234659/http://www.pbcovers.com/pbcovers.php?c=it&y=1983&cover=it_198308|archive-date=25 December 2007|url-status= live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.pbcovers.com/pbcovers.php?c=de&y=1983&cover=de_198311|work=PBCovers|title=Playboy Germany – Covers of 1983|date=November 1983|access-date=3 January 2008|archive-date=1 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901085249/http://www.pbcovers.com/pbcovers.php?c=de&y=1983&cover=de_198311|url-status=dead}} "When you are an actress, you are dealing with the body. Every actress does topless and stuff like this; you have to," she has said.

Mussolini continued as an actress into the 1980s. Some of the films she featured in were made for Italian television. However, she still acted in standard cinematic films, such as The Assisi Underground in which she played a nun; the movie focused on the Roman Catholic Church rescuing Italian Jews from the Nazis in 1943.{{cite news|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088746/|publisher=IMDb|title=The Assisi Underground (1985)|access-date=3 January 2008}} She starred in her final film in 1990 and then left the film industry to continue studying after a producer asked her to change her name.{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article67581.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131201044932/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article67581.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 December 2013 |work=The Independent |title=Alessandra Mussolini: Politician in stilettos |date=8 February 2004 |access-date=3 January 2008 }} Also archived at FindArticles.com as [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20040208/ai_n12751423 "Mussolini In Stilettos"] by Susan Chenery.

In 1992, Alessandra Mussolini was elected to parliament in a Naples constituency as a member of the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI). After the Italian general elections of April 2008, Mussolini served as a member of the Italian parliament within Silvio Berlusconi's alliance of right wing parties, The People of Freedom.

In the Italian general election of February 2013, she was elected to the Senate of the Republic as a member of The People of Freedom. The party was transformed into a new Forza Italia in November 2013.[http://www.senato.it/leg/17/BGT/Schede/Attsen/00001662.htm Alessandra MUSSOLINI] {{in lang|it}} Senato.it. Retrieved 21 June 2014 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140612002612/http://www.senato.it/leg/17/BGT/Schede/Attsen/00001662.htm archived] at Webcitation) In the 2014 European Parliament election, Mussolini was elected to the EP for Forza Italia.Remi Adekoya et al (26 May 2014)[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/26/meet-the-new-faces-in-the-european-parliament Meet the new faces ready to sweep into the European parliament] The Guardian.

In 1993 Mussolini was a candidate for the post of mayor of Naples, but was defeated by Antonio Bassolino. She claimed that her relations with Gianfranco Fini, leader of the Alleanza Nazionale, never were very good; she then later withdrew, resigning over differences with him at least once.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E1DC163AF936A25752C1A960958260 "A Mussolini Quits Rightist Party in Italy"] The New York Times, 15 November 1996. She unsuccessfully challenged him for the leadership of the party when he withdrew support for Mussolini in a television interview in January 2002.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070312111916/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2002%2F01%2F26%2Fwmuss26.xml "Alessandra Mussolini seeks leadership of Italy's far Right"] by Bruce Johnston, The Daily Telegraph, 26 January 2002[http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/25/italy.mussolini/ "Mussolini to challenge party boss"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312053106/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/25/italy.mussolini/ |date=12 March 2007 }}, CNN, 25 January 2002

Mussolini suddenly left the National Alliance on 28 November 2003, following the visit of party leader and the Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini to Israel, where he described fascism as part "the absolute evil" with regard to the Holocaust as he apologised for Italy's role as an Axis Power during the Second World War.{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2003/novembre/28/Mussolini_lascia_Gianfranco_tradito__co_0_031128096.shtml|title=La Mussolini lascia An "Gianfranco ha tradito"|access-date=8 July 2008}} Mussolini, however, defended the right of Israel to exist and declared that the world "should beg forgiveness of Israel."{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=364285&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y|title=Mussolini: World should 'beg forgiveness of Israel'|access-date=8 July 2008}}

Following her resignation, Mussolini formed her Social Action party, originally named "Freedom of Action," and organised a coalition named Social Alternative. This made her the first female leader of an Italian political party. The move was read in the Italian media as surprising because of Mussolini's "progressive" stances on many issues, including abortion,{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1994/agosto/11/Mussolini_macche_omicidio_cosi_criminalizzano_co_0_9408115537.shtml|title=la Mussolini: macche' omicidio cosi' si criminalizzano le donne|access-date=8 July 2008}} artificial insemination,{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1997/febbraio/04/Embrioni_Mussolini_Melandri_ancora_polemica_co_0_9702048957.shtml|title=Embrioni, da Mussolini a Melandri e' ancora polemica|access-date=8 July 2008}}{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2004/febbraio/11/Fecondazione_Parlamento_vara_regole_co_9_040211027.shtml|title=Fecondazione, il Parlamento vara le regole|access-date=8 July 2008}} gay rights{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1995/gennaio/06/Destra_gay_pace_vicina_Alessandra_co_0_9501062501.shtml|title=Destra e gay, pace vicina. Alessandra Mussolini: tra loro ho molti amici|access-date=8 July 2008}} See also: {{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1996/febbraio/09/Alessandra_per_una_volta_sono_co_8_9602091092.shtml|title=Alessandra: per una volta sono vicina alla sinistra|access-date=8 July 2008}} and {{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1997/febbraio/08/Mussolini_piace_gay_mette_imbarazzo_co_0_9702088459.shtml|title=La Mussolini piace ai gay e mette in imbarazzo An|access-date=8 July 2008}} and civil unions.{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2003/ottobre/24/Turco_Mussolini_Thelma_Louise_della_co_0_031024128.shtml|title=Turco-Mussolini, Thelma e Louise della politica "Tanta invidia ma andiamo avanti lo stesso"|access-date=8 July 2008}} See also: {{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2003/ottobre/21/Raddoppiano_coppie_fatto_Polo_contro_co_0_031021030.shtml|title=Raddoppiano le coppie di fatto Polo contro la proposta Mussolini|access-date=8 July 2008}} She has been an outspoken feminist{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2003/luglio/08/Alessandra_Mussolini_ora_serve_nuovo_co_0_030708057.shtml|title=Alessandra Mussolini: ora serve un nuovo femminismo|access-date=8 July 2008}} and has been described by conservative commentators as a "socialist"{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/1996/maggio/31/Buttafuoco_Mussolini_vattene_con_Ulivo_co_0_96053111728.shtml|title=Buttafuoco: Mussolini, vattene con l' Ulivo Alessandra: triste non-sapere dove buttarsi|access-date=8 July 2008}} and a "left-winger."{{cite web|url=http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2005/marzo/25/interroga_Alessandra_destra_femminista__co_9_050325040.shtml|title=An s' interroga su Alessandra "E' di destra o femminista?"|access-date=8 July 2008}}

In the 2004 European Parliament election, Social Alternative, gained 1.2% of the electoral list vote. Mussolini herself received 133,000 preference votes.

In response to a comment made by UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom in which he said that "No self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age. That isn't politically correct, is it, but it's a fact of life. The more women's rights you have, it's actually a bar to their employment."{{cite news|url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article459538.ece?print=yes&randnum=1151003209000|title=UKIP man champions a woman's right to clean fridges|first=Jenny|last=Booth|date=20 July 2004|work=TimesOnline }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and: "I just don't think [women] clean behind the fridge enough,"{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3912205.stm|title=UKIP MEP in row over working women| date=21 July 2004|work=BBC}} Mussolini responded by saying {{blockquote|I know the English have a sense of humour about themselves, but I am from Naples and I can say that us women do know how to cook and clean the refrigerator and even be politicians, while perhaps Godfrey Bloom does not know either how to clean the refrigerator or how to be a politician.Quote in the original language Italian: "So che gli Inglesi hanno il senso dell’autoironia, ma io sono napoletana e posso dire che noi donne sappiamo cucinare e pulire i frigoriferi e facciamo anche politica, mentre forse Godfrey Bloom non-sa né pulire i frigoriferi, né fare politica."}}

In March 2005, Mussolini was banned by a local court from regional elections held the following month for presenting fraudulent signatures.[https://www.theguardian.com/italy/story/0,,1436835,00.html "Alessandra Mussolini barred from election because of faked signatures"] by John Hooper, The Guardian, 14 March 2005 "This is an affront to democracy, if they're going to exclude the Social Alternative they will have to exclude all the parties, because all the signature lists are false," Mussolini told Reuters.[http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/reuters/2005/03/13/world/mussolinirsquosgranddaughterbarredfromvote.html "Mussolini’s granddaughter barred from vote"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507184033/http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/reuters/2005/03/13/world/mussolinirsquosgranddaughterbarredfromvote.html |date=7 May 2008 }}, Reuters, 13 March 2005, Tiscali News Mussolini went on a hunger strike to protest the decision.[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hunger-strike-by-mussolini/ "Hunger Strike By Mussolini"], Associated Press, 15 March 2005, CBS News However, at the end of the month Italy's top administrative court, the Council of State, annulled the decision and she stood for election.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4401023.stm "Q&A: Italy regional elections"], BBC News, 1 April 2005

In November 2007, remarks by Mussolini triggered the collapse of the far-right Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty grouping within the European Parliament.[https://www.theguardian.com/eu/story/0,,2211166,00.html "Xenophobia destroys EU's ultra-rightwing MEP group"], The Guardian, 15 November 2007 Mussolini declared that all Romanians were criminals in remarks regarding immigration policy. This prompted delegates from the Greater Romania Party to quit the group, bringing the group below the minimum number of members to qualify as a caucus and receive Parliamentary funding. In the 2019 European Parliament election, she lost her bid for re-election to the European Parliament.

In 2006, she responded to claims by the transgender Italian parliamentary candidate Vladimir Luxuria that she was a "fascist" by saying that it would be better to be a fascist than it would be to be gay.[http://www.repubblica.it/2006/c/sezioni/politica/versoelezioni35/muslux/muslux.html "Mussolini a Vladimir Luxuria 'Meglio fascista che frocio'"], La Repubblica, 9 March 2006 {{in lang|it}}

Her stance on homosexuality changed consistently from the late 2000s. In 2010, Mussolini condemned the Vatican's comparison of homosexuality with paedophilia, stating "You can't link sexual orientation to pedophilia … this link risks becoming dangerously misleading for the protection of children".{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-abuse-idUSTRE63D24520100414|title=Vatican under fire for linking gays to pedophilia|work=Reuters|first=Philip|last=Pullella|date=14 April 2010|access-date=30 June 2017|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924144849/http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/14/us-pope-abuse-idUSTRE63D24520100414|url-status=live}} In 2022, she supported the anti-homophobia "Zan bill" and she refused to provide her gender information on her MEP identity card after returning to the European Parliament.{{cite web |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/02/12/granddaughter-of-italian-fascist-mussolini-comes-out-swinging-for-lgbtq-rights-people-can-change/ |publisher=The Pink News |date=12 February 2023 |title=Granddaughter of Italian fascist Mussolini comes out swinging for LGBTQ+ rights: 'People can change'}}

She left Forza Italia in 2018, following the party's decision to be in opposition to the Conte government.{{cite web |last1=Falci |first1=Giuseppe |title=Mussolini: "Lascio Forza Italia." E su Salvini: "Mi piace, è un vero militante" |url=https://www.corriere.it/politica/18_luglio_30/alessandra-mussolini-lascio-forza-italia-salvini-mi-piace-suo-approccio-vero-militante-59f5c0a8-93d8-11e8-827e-24bcbc32092b.shtml |website=Corriere della Sera |date=30 July 2018 |publisher=RCS Mediagroup S.p.a. |access-date=30 July 2018 |language=it-IT}} She has used Twitter to defend the memory of her grandfather from critics such as actor Jim Carrey, and fans of Scottish football club Celtic F.C.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/04/01/benito-mussolinis-granddaughter-has-spent-decades-defending-him-now-shes-feuding-with-jim-carrey/|title=Benito Mussolini's granddaughter has spent decades defending him. Now she's feuding with Jim Carrey.|last=Farzan|first=Antonia Noori|authorlink=Antonia Noori Farzan|date=1 April 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2019-04-02}}{{cite news |last1=Keyden |first1=Nicholas |title=Celtic fans' bitter feud with Mussolini's granddaughter reignited as she mocks Rangers loss |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/celtic-fans-bitter-feud-mussolinis-21187259 |access-date=14 May 2020 |work=Daily Record |date=30 December 2019}}

In December 2020, she left politics for a new television career.{{cite web |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.it/entry/alessandra-mussolini-dico-addio-politica-e-un-ciclo-chiuso-dopo-ballando-con-le-stelle-guardo-al-futuro_it_5fe2f74ac5b66809cb2eb7ae|title=Alessandra Mussolini: "Addio alla politica: è un ciclo chiuso. Dopo 'Ballando con le stelle' guardo al futuro"|publisher=Huffington Post|date=23 December 2020|access-date=15 May 2021}} She took part, as contestant, in Milly Carlucci's Ballando con le stelle and in Carlo Conti's Tale e quale show obtaining success.

In November 2022, Mussolini returned to politics to replace Antonio Tajani as a Forza Italia MEP after his election to the Chamber of Deputies.

{{notelist}}

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{{Wikiquote}}

• [http://nuovo.camera.it/29?shadow_deputato=33830 Profile on the Italian Parliament website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506023635/http://nuovo.camera.it/29?shadow_deputato=33830 |date=6 May 2016 }}
• {{MEP}}
• [http://www.antonellaricciardi.it/interviews.asp?id=28 Interview with Alessandra Mussolini] by Antonella Ricciardi, 19 May 2005
• [http://www.cbc.ca/dispatches/media/060330_mussolini.ram Audio interview with Alessandra Mussolini] from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 30 March 2006 (RAM format)
• {{IMDb name|id=0615905}}
• {{discogs artist|Alessandra Mussolini}}

{{Benito Mussolini}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mussolini, Alessandra}}

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Alessandra

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