MAFFEO PANTALEONI: FOMENTOR OF THE ANTI-SEMITIC PRESS CAMPAIGN

The author reconstructs the anti-Semitic press campaign led by Maffeo Pantaleoni, one of the major Italian economists, between 1915 and 1924. A declared supporter of Nationalism and Fascism, co-editor of the magazine La Vita italiana, the economist moreover promoted the publication of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in 1921 plus the publication of lists of Jews who had prominent roles in Italy. Pantaleoni’s work is particularly important from the idealogical point of view because it supports that of the founder of La Vita italiana, Giovanni Preziosi, who was destined to hold, after the death of his ‘master’, a primary role in the Fascist culture and policy of anti-Semitism during the Republic of Salo` (19431945) which promoted the systematic extermination of Italian Jews. Keywords: Italian marginalism; anti-Semitism; fascism JEL classifications: B13; J15; Z13