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Alessandra Mussolini
Mussolini in 2013
Member of the European Parliament
In office 2 November 2022 – 15 July 2024
Constituency	Central Italy
In office 1 July 2014 – 1 July 2019
Constituency	Central Italy
In office 20 July 2004 – 28 April 2008
Constituency	Central Italy
Member of the Senate
In office 15 March 2013 – 30 June 2014
Constituency	Campania
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 29 April 2008 – 14 March 2013
Constituency	Campania 1
In office 23 April 1992 – 19 July 2004
Constituency	Naples
Personal details
Born	(1962-12-30) 30 December 1962 (age 61) Rome, Italy
Political party	FI (2013–2018; 2019–present)
Other political affiliations	MSI (1992–1995) AN (1995–2003) AS (2003–2009) AS (2004–2006) PdL (2009–2013)
Spouse	Mauro Floriani ​(m. 1989)​
Children	3, including Romano
Parent(s)	Romano Mussolini (father) Maria Scicolone (mother)
Relatives	Mussolini family Sophia Loren (aunt) Rachele Mussolini (half-sister)
Alma mater	Sapienza University of Rome
Occupation	Politician Actress (1970–2006)

Alessandra Mussolini (born 30 December 1962) is an Italian politician, television personality, model and former actress and singer. Mussolini has been a member of both houses of the Italian Parliament as well as the European Parliament. She is also known for being a member of the Mussolini family as a granddaughter of Benito Mussolini. Since 2022, she has been a Member of the European Parliament for Forza Italia.

Mussolini first gained fame through acting and modelling. In 1982, as a singer, she released a city pop album entitled Amore. Mussolini starred in her final film in 1990 and left the industry after a producer asked her to change her name.

In 2004, she became the first woman to lead a political party in Italy when she founded the national conservative political party Social Action. She was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013 and the Italian Senate from 2013 to 2014 where she was elected under The People of Freedom which later became part of Forza Italia. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2014.

Mussolini left politics temporarily in December 2020 for a reality television career. She returned as an MEP in November 2022, succeeding Antonio Tajani, after he was appointed in the Meloni government.

Early and personal life

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. Together they have three children, 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.

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. 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.

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. She considers herself Roman Catholic, although she does not attend Mass regularly.

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."

She has been a painter since 2014 and her first solo exhibition was held during 2015 in Rome.

Entertainment career

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.

Mussolini also appeared as a glamour model, including on the cover of two European editions of Playboy, in Italy (August 1983) and Germany (November 1983). "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. 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.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Political career

Italian Parliament

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. In the 2014 European Parliament election, Mussolini was elected to the EP for Forza Italia.

Mayoral candidate

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. She unsuccessfully challenged him for the leadership of the party when he withdrew support for Mussolini in a television interview in January 2002.

Formation of Social Action

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. Mussolini, however, defended the right of Israel to exist and declared that the world "should beg forgiveness of Israel."

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, artificial insemination, gay rights and civil unions. She has been an outspoken feminist and has been described by conservative commentators as a "socialist" and a "left-winger."

European Parliament

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." and: "I just don't think clean behind the fridge enough," Mussolini responded by saying

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.

In March 2005, Mussolini was banned by a local court from regional elections held the following month for presenting fraudulent signatures. "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. Mussolini went on a hunger strike to protest the decision. However, at the end of the month Italy's top administrative court, the Council of State, annulled the decision and she stood for election.

In November 2007, remarks by Mussolini triggered the collapse of the far-right Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty grouping within the European Parliament. 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.

Views on social issues

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.

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". 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.

End of political career

She left Forza Italia in 2018, following the party's decision to be in opposition to the Conte government. 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.

In December 2020, she left politics for a new television career. She took part, as contestant, in Milly Carlucci's Ballando con le stelle and in Carlo Conti's Tale e quale show obtaining success.

Return to politics

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

Filmography

Films

Television

Electoral history

Election	House	Constituency	Party		Votes	Result
1992	Chamber of Deputies	Naples–Caserta		MSI	56,716	Y Elected
1994	Chamber of Deputies	Naples – Ischia		AN	39,736	Y Elected
1996	Chamber of Deputies	Naples – Ischia		AN	42,249	Y Elected
2001	Chamber of Deputies	Naples – Ischia		AN	36,902	Y Elected
2004	European Parliament	Central Italy		AS	39,823	Y Elected
2006	Chamber of Deputies	Campania 1		AS	–	N Not elected
2008	Chamber of Deputies	Campania 1		PdL	–	Y Elected
2013	Senate of the Republic	Campania		PdL	–	Y Elected
2014	European Parliament	Central Italy		FI	81,955	Y Elected
2019	European Parliament	Central Italy		FI	17,789	N Not elected
2024	European Parliament	Central Italy		FI	8,007	N Not elected

1. ^ Elected in a closed list proportional representation system.

References

1. ^ Noori-Farzan, Antonia (1 April 2019). "Benito Mussolini's granddaughter has spent decades defending him. Now she's feuding with Jim Carrey". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
2. Siemaszko, Corky (1 April 2019). "Jim Carrey's picture of Mussolini's demise sparks Twitter tirade from dictator's granddaughter". NBC News. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
3. Tucker, Reals (1 April 2019). "Jim Carrey's new painting enrages Benito Mussolini's granddaughter". CBS News. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
4. Merelli, Annalisa (1 April 2019). "The reaction to Jim Carrey's Mussolini tweet stands as a warning for anti-fascists". Quartz. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
5. ^ "Alessandra Mussolini: Politician in stilettos - Profiles - People - T…". archive.ph. 1 December 2013. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
6. ^ Deputati – MUSSOLINI Alessandra Archived 8 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, website of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
7. ^ "Alessandra Mussolini: "Addio alla politica: è un ciclo chiuso. Dopo 'Ballando con le stelle' guardo al futuro"". Huffington Post. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
8. ^ "Parlamento Ue comunica nomi nuovi eurodeputati italiani - Europa". ANSA.it (in Italian). 7 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
9. "Chronicle" Nadine Brozan, The New York Times, 15 November 1994.
10. Squires, Nick (11 March 2014). "Mussolini grand-daughter's husband in prostitution probe". The Telegraph.
11. "Mussolini calls for new naming law" Malcolm Moore, The Daily Telegraph, 31 May 2006
12. "Mussolini granddaughter's husband to go on trial for 'paying for sex with teenage prostitutes'". The Daily Telegraph. 23 June 2015.
13. "Mussolini's husband gets a year". Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
14. ^ "Mussolini's progeny voted down in EU elections". Italian Insider. 31 May 2019.
15. Giordano, Lucio (16 July 2021). "È la mia àncora di salvezza, mi affido a Lui quando sono disperata". Dipiù (in Italian). No. 28. pp. 98–101.
16. ^ "Alessandra Mussolini: Politician in stilettos". The Independent. 8 February 2004. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2008. Also archived at FindArticles.com as "Mussolini In Stilettos" by Susan Chenery.
17. Tonelli, Matteo (31 January 2001). "la Repubblica/politica: Calci e insulti il duello e' servito". www.repubblica.it. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
18. Alessandra Mussolini pittrice
19. Debutto da pittrice di Alessandra Mussolini
20. "Alessandra Mussolini – Amore (1982)". Orrore a 33 Giri. 13 April 2007. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
21. Jan Repa (9 January 2004). "Italy's post-fascists to regroup". BBC News. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
22. "Playboy Italy – Covers of 1983". PBCovers. August 1983. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
23. "Playboy Germany – Covers of 1983". PBCovers. November 1983. Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
24. "The Assisi Underground (1985)". IMDb. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
25. Alessandra MUSSOLINI (in Italian) Senato.it. Retrieved 21 June 2014 (archived at Webcitation)
26. Remi Adekoya et al (26 May 2014)Meet the new faces ready to sweep into the European parliament The Guardian.
27. "A Mussolini Quits Rightist Party in Italy" The New York Times, 15 November 1996.
28. "Alessandra Mussolini seeks leadership of Italy's far Right" by Bruce Johnston, The Daily Telegraph, 26 January 2002
29. "Mussolini to challenge party boss" Archived 12 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine, CNN, 25 January 2002
30. "La Mussolini lascia An "Gianfranco ha tradito"". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
31. "Mussolini: World should 'beg forgiveness of Israel'". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
32. "la Mussolini: macche' omicidio cosi' si criminalizzano le donne". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
33. "Embrioni, da Mussolini a Melandri e' ancora polemica". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
34. "Fecondazione, il Parlamento vara le regole". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
35. "Destra e gay, pace vicina. Alessandra Mussolini: tra loro ho molti amici". Retrieved 8 July 2008. See also: "Alessandra: per una volta sono vicina alla sinistra". Retrieved 8 July 2008. and "La Mussolini piace ai gay e mette in imbarazzo An". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
36. "Turco-Mussolini, Thelma e Louise della politica "Tanta invidia ma andiamo avanti lo stesso"". Retrieved 8 July 2008. See also: "Raddoppiano le coppie di fatto Polo contro la proposta Mussolini". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
37. "Alessandra Mussolini: ora serve un nuovo femminismo". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
38. "Buttafuoco: Mussolini, vattene con l' Ulivo Alessandra: triste non-sapere dove buttarsi". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
39. "An s' interroga su Alessandra "E' di destra o femminista?"". Retrieved 8 July 2008.
40. Booth, Jenny (20 July 2004). "UKIP man champions a woman's right to clean fridges". TimesOnline.
41. "UKIP MEP in row over working women". BBC. 21 July 2004.
42. 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."
43. "Alessandra Mussolini barred from election because of faked signatures" by John Hooper, The Guardian, 14 March 2005
44. "Mussolini’s granddaughter barred from vote" Archived 7 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, 13 March 2005, Tiscali News
45. "Hunger Strike By Mussolini", Associated Press, 15 March 2005, CBS News
46. "Q&A: Italy regional elections", BBC News, 1 April 2005
47. "Xenophobia destroys EU's ultra-rightwing MEP group", The Guardian, 15 November 2007
48. "Mussolini a Vladimir Luxuria 'Meglio fascista che frocio'", La Repubblica, 9 March 2006 (in Italian)
49. Pullella, Philip (14 April 2010). "Vatican under fire for linking gays to pedophilia". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
50. "Granddaughter of Italian fascist Mussolini comes out swinging for LGBTQ+ rights: 'People can change'". The Pink News. 12 February 2023.
51. Falci, Giuseppe (30 July 2018). "Mussolini: "Lascio Forza Italia." E su Salvini: "Mi piace, è un vero militante"". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). RCS Mediagroup S.p.a. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
52. Keyden, Nicholas (30 December 2019). "Celtic fans' bitter feud with Mussolini's granddaughter reignited as she mocks Rangers loss". Daily Record. Retrieved 14 May 2020.

External links

• Profile on the Italian Parliament website Archived 6 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Personal profile of Alessandra Mussolini in the European Parliament's database of members
• Interview with Alessandra Mussolini by Antonella Ricciardi, 19 May 2005
• Audio interview with Alessandra Mussolini from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 30 March 2006 (RAM format)
• Alessandra Mussolini at IMDb
• Alessandra Mussolini discography at Discogs

v t e Benito Mussolini
Head of the Government and Duce of Fascism (1922–1943) Assassination attempts · Death
Politics	Duce Fascist Manifesto Italian Fascism Spazio vitale Economic policies Racist policies Leggi razziali Manifesto della razza Fascist propaganda Model of masculinity Rome–Berlin Axis Pact of Steel
Events	March on Rome Mussolini Cabinet Second Italo-Ethiopian War Foundation of the Empire Spanish Civil War Invasion of Albania World War II Mussolini's escape Italian Civil War Dongo Treasure
Elections	1924 general election 1929 general election 1934 general election
Political parties	Italian Socialist Party (1901–1914) Fascio d'Azione Rivoluzionaria (1914–1919) Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (1919–1921) National Fascist Party (1921–1943) Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945)
Family	Rachele Mussolini (wife) Clara Petacci (lover) Ida Dalser (wife) Margherita Sarfatti (lover) Edda Mussolini (daughter) Vittorio Mussolini (son) Bruno Mussolini (son) Romano Mussolini (son) Maria Scicolone (daughter-in-law) Alessandra Mussolini (granddaughter) Rachele Mussolini (granddaughter) Fabrizio Ciano, 3rd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari (grandson) Romano Floriani Mussolini (great-grandson)
Popular culture	Television: Dwight's Speech M. Son of the Century Books: Mussolini diaries Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall M: Son of the Century Films: Benito The Eternal City Mussolini and I I'm Back The Killers of Mussolini Last Days of Mussolini Mussolini Speaks Mussolini: The Untold Story Vincere

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