ROSSELLI

ROSSELLI , Italian family distinguished for its patriotic activities in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Settling in London in partnership with the *Nathan family, parents of Ernesto *Nathan, later mayor of Rome, they kept open house for Italian conspirators and patriots, especially Giuseppe Mazzini, who thanked God for the friendship of the family. Giannetta Nathan married Pellegrino Rosselli, and with him continued to follow the family tradition; it was in their house in Pisa (now a national monument) that Mazzini died, a fugitive, in 1872. Their descendants included carlo rosselli (1899–1937), socialist writer and economist, author of Socialismo liberale (1930, 1945) and of Scritti politici ed autobiografici (1944). Rosselli was one of the foremost opponents of Fascism, and founded for this purpose the movement Giustizia e Libertà with its own publication. He led an eventful life, including a daring escape by speedboat from Fascist confinement at Lipari in 1934 and various commands during the Civil War in Spain, where he served with the International Brigade and was wounded in 1936. His brother nello (1900–1937) wrote Mazzini e Bakunin (1927), Carlo Pisacane nel Risorgimento Italiano (1932), and other works. He shared his brother's views and fought with him in the underground against Fascism. At a Jewish youth movement convention in Leghorn in 1924, he propounded the thesis that Judaism is above all the religion of liberty. The two brothers were murdered in Bagnoles de l'Orne, France, by hired assassins of the Fascist government (June 1937).

bibliography:

Levi, in: rmi, 5 (1930/31), 587–612; S. Trantin, Dix aus de fascisme totalitaire en Italie… (1937), 228–36; G. Salvemini, Carlo and Nello Rosselli, A Memoir (1937).

[Giorgio Romano]