Wikipedia

Filippo Caracciolo

Filippo Caracciolo, 8th Prince of Castagneto, 3rd Duke of Melito (4 March 1903 – 16 July 1965), was an Italian nobleman and anti-fascist politician who served in the National Liberation Committee (CLN) and the second government of Pietro Badoglio. His assiduous participation in the development of the automotive and tourism sectors earned him the gold medal for meritorious service to education and culture.

Filippo Caracciolo
8th Prince of Castagneto
3rd Duke of Melito
Filippo Caracciolo in 1965
Caracciolo in 1965
BornPrince Filippo Caracciolo di Castagneto
(1903-03-04)4 March 1903
Naples, Italy
Died16 July 1965(1965-07-16) (aged 62)
Rome, Italy
FamilyHouse of Caracciolo
Spouse
Margaret Clarke
​
​
(m. 1925; died 1955)​
Issue
Carlo Caracciolo, 9th Prince of Castagneto, 4th Duke of Melito
Princess Marella Caracciolo
Nicola Caracciolo, 10th Prince of Castagneto, 5th Duke of Melito
FatherNicola Caracciolo, 7th Prince of Castagneto, 2nd Duke of Melito
MotherMeralda Mele Barrese
Occupation
  • Diplomat
  • politician

Born into the House of Caracciolo, a noble family dating back to the Kingdom of Naples, Caracciolo graduated and began a diplomatic career in the 1930s. During the Bari Congress, which was held in 1944 by the CLN, he was appointed secretary of the executive council and subsequently served in Badoglio's government. He was secretary of the Action Party (PdA) from 1943 to 1945 and deputy secretary general of the Council of Europe from 1949 to 1954.

Between the end of World War II and the early 1950s, alongside his political commitments, Caracciolo held roles related to national development and the protection of the country's landscape and cultural heritage, and held additional positions in various organisations and associations. He was also the first Italian president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and was the author of several works of journalism and non-fiction.

Early life and education

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Caracciolo was born on 4 March 1903 in Naples,[1][2] during the Kingdom of Italy period, into the Italian nobility as a member the House of Caracciolo.[3] He was known with the honorific of Don as a result of his nobility origins (his father was Nicola Caracciolo, 7th Prince of Castagneto, 2nd Duke of Melito, who married Meralda Mele Barrese), including being the 8th Prince of Castagneto,[2] the 3rd Duke of Melito, and an hereditary patrician of Naples from an old noble Neapolitan family dating back to the Kingdom of Naples.[3] He graduated in political and commercial sciences, holding a doctorate in economics and social sciences.[1][2][3]

Career

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In 1934, Caracciolo assumed diplomatic positions in Turkey, Switzerland, and Strasbourg, owing to his multi-lingual ability.[1][2][3] During the Fascist Italy period, he took part in the Italian resistance movement and hosted exiled anti-fascists, including Ugo La Malfa.[4] After the fall of the fascist regime in Italy on 25 July 1943, La Malfa returned from England to live at Caracciolo's house in Rome.[4] He had previously clandestinely hosted La Malfa in Switzerland.[4]

During a congress in Bari on 28–29 January 1944, Caracciolo became the executive secretary of the CLN,[1][3] and later became the undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the second Badoglio government.[1][5] During this time, he helped overcome objections for the Italian Communist Party (PCI) to join the government.[6] Between September 1943 and September 1945, Caracciolo was appointed secretary of the PdA,[1][3] along with Pasquale Schiano, Adolfo Omodeo, and Ferruccio Parri, who was the military commander in Northern Italy, and also served as general-secretary of the Council of Europe from 1949 to 1954.[1][2][7]

Caracciolo with Italian President Giuseppe Saragat on 15 June 1965

During his career, Caraccioli held many posts, including as vice president of the Tourism and Automobile Organisation (OTA), member of the board of directors of Italian Association of the Automotive Industry (ANFIA), and president or board member of numerous other organisations, including SARA Assicurazioni, L'Editrice dell'Automobile, Cofige, Sicreo, and Sacop.[1] He also served as editor of the Automobile Club of Italy's social magazine from 1948 to 1950.[1] In addition to a journalist career, he was the author of several literary works, such as I canti di ognuno, Il passaggio di Irene, I trionfi, Il vivaio, and Napoli 1943-1945.[1][3]

Caracciolo was a supporter of motorsport.[1] During his presidency at Automobile Club of Italy, the country underwent a transformation as motorisation became a mass phenomenon.[1] He supported major road safety education initiatives, for which he was awarded the gold medal for meritorious service to education and culture by the Ministry of Education.[1] He also championed and supported motor racing in the tradition of the Automobile Club of Italy.[1]

Caracciolo was a special ambassador of the Automobile Club of Italy, which he was able to keep open and retain its FIA membership after World War II.[1][2][3] During this time, he was president of several international organisations, such as Italia Nostra and Europa Nostra, and also served as vice-president of FIA.[1][2][3] In 1963, Caracciolo was appointed president of FIA, a job he held until his death in 1965; in doing so, he became the first Italian to hold the post, which had been always held by French, allowing the FIA to bolster its claim as an international body.[2] His candidacy was supported by his predecessor, Count Hadelin de Liedekerke Beaufort.[2] Caracciolo shared his time as president of FIA between Rome and Paris, and his premature death led to an unfulfilled presidency.[2]

Personal life and death

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On 8 January 1925 in Florence, Caracciolo married Margaret Clarke (1898–1955), the heiress of a well-known family of whiskey producers from Peoria, Illinois.[8][9] During their marriage, which ended with the death of Clarke in 1955, they had three children.[3] Carlo Caracciolo (1925–2008), who inherited the nobility titles,[3] was the founder of the Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso,[10] while Marella Agnelli (1927–2019) became an art collector, socialite, style icon, and wife of Fiat S.p.A. chairman Gianni Agnelli (1921–2003),[11][12] and Nicola Caracciolo (1931–2020) was a journalist, historian, and environmental activist.[13][14] He died in Rome on 16 July 1965, less than two years into his term as FIA president.[1][2][3]

Caracciolo is claimed as the biological father of the Italian film producer Ettore Rosboch von Wolkenstein (born 1945),[15][16][17] the son of Baroness Elisabeth Jaworski von Wolkenstein (1915–1959), who at the time of his birth had been a widow to Nobile Ettore Bernardo Rosboch (1893–1944).[18] Rosboch von Wolkenstein's father, who was born in 1893, served during the Fascist Italy period as Undersecretary of State to the Ministry of Finance and died in 1944.[18] Rosboch von Wolkenstein married Lilia Smecchia (born 1947).[18] Their daughter, Elisabetta Maria Rosboch von Wolkenstein (born 1987), married Prince Amedeo of Belgium (born 1986), the hereditary Archduke of Austria-Este, with three children, and as a result became known as Princess Elisabetta of Belgium.[18] Rosboch von Wolkenstein produced the only album by Mario Schifano's Le Stelle band during the late 1960s in what was one of the first examples of Italian underground music, and most notably was one of the producers of the 1984 fantasy comedy film Nothing Left to Do But Cry, which starred Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi.[18] While some consider this claim only a suspicion, others argue it was certain that Rosboch von Wolkenstein was Caracciolo's son.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Filippo Caracciolo". Fondazione Caracciolo (in Italian). 2005. Archived from the original on 8 March 2005. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Prince Filippo Caracciolo di Castagneto". Fia.com. 28 March 2012. Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Filippo Caracciolo di Castagneto". Olympedia. 2021. Archived from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 De Mattei, Roberto (2002). "Biografia Ugo La Malfa" [Ugo La Malfa biography]. Storia XXI secolo (in Italian). Archived from the original on 20 December 2002. Retrieved 17 February 2023. Dopo il 25 luglio, La Malfa torna in Italia dall'Inghilterra con l'autorevole appoggio del 'clan' al suo programma. A Roma vive in casa del principe Filippo Caracciolo (poi suocero di Gianni Agnelli), che già lo ha ospitato clandestinamente in Svizzera. [After 25 July, La Malfa returned to Italy from England with the authoritative support of the 'clan' for his programme. In Rome, he lived in the home of Prince Filippo Caracciolo (later Gianni Agnelli's father-in-law), who had previously hosted him clandestinely in Switzerland.]
  5. ↑ Carnino, Andrea (25 February 2019). "Addio a Marella Agnelli" [Farewell to Marella Agnelli]. Croce Reale (in Italian). Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  6. ↑ Santarelli, Enzo (1999). Mezzogiorno, 1943–1944: uno sbandato nel regno del Sud [Mezzogiorno, 1943–1944: A Wanderer in the Kingdom of the South]. Milan: Feltrinelli. p. 79. ISBN 978-88-07-81528-7. Retrieved 17 February 2023 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Scali, Antonio (23 February 2019). "Marella Agnelli: chi era la vedova dell'Avvocato scomparsa a 92 anni" [Marella Agnelli: who was the widow of the Lawyer who died at 92?]. The Post Internazionale (in Italian). Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  8. ↑ Turani, Giuseppe (25 January 2003). "L'Avvocato" [The Lawyer]. La Repubblica (in Italian). ISSN 0390-1076. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Marsala, Helga (23 February 2019). "Donna Marella Agnelli, l'ultimo cigno. Addio a una regina di stile" [Donna Marella Agnelli, the last swan. Farewell to a queen of style]. Artribune (in Italian). Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  10. ↑ Povoledo, Elisabetta (17 December 2008). "C. Caracciolo, 83, a Publisher and La Repubblica Founder, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  11. ↑ Wertheim, Bonnie (23 February 2019). "Marella Agnelli, Society's 'Last Swan' and a Passionate Gardener, Is Dead at 91". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  12. ↑ Beria di Argentine, Chiara (24 February 2019). "Marella Agnelli: i libri, i giardini, l'arte.La rincorsa instancabile alla perfezione del bello" [Marella Agnelli: books, gardens, art. The tireless pursuit of beauty]. La Stampa (in Italian). ISSN 1122-1763. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  13. ↑ Colacello, Bob (8 August 2013). "The Mysterious Heirs of Italian Prince Carlo Caracciolo". Vanity Fair. ISSN 0733-8899. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  14. ↑ Rizzo, Sergio (25 April 2020). "Nicola Caracciolo, l'irriducibile" [Nicola Caracciolo, the indomitable]. La Repubblica (in Italian). p. 33. ISSN 0390-1076. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  15. ↑ De Francesco, Gian Maria (23 August 2009). "Caracciolo 'risorge' e va dal notaio per Jacaranda" [Caracciolo "resurrects" and goes to the notary for Jacaranda]. Il Giornale (in Italian). ISSN 2532-4071. Archived from the original on 11 April 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  16. ↑ Colacello, Bob (December 2009). "The Mysterious Heirs of Italian Prince Carlo Caracciolo". Vanity Fair. ISSN 0733-8899. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2026.
  17. ↑ Agnelli, Marella (2015). La Signora Gocà [The Lady Goca] (in Italian). Milan: Adelphi. pp. 234–236. ISBN 978-88-4593-040-9. Archived from the original on 11 April 2026. Retrieved 11 April 2026 – via Amazon.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ravera, Marco (27 July 2020). "Non ci resta che piangere. Il puro piacere del divertimento" [Nothing Left to Do But Cry. The pure pleasure of having fun]. La Sinistra quotidiana (in Italian). Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2026.

Further reading

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  • Berrettini, Mireno (2008). "Gli inglesi, la diplomazia clandestina e l'Italia badogliana. Lo Special Operations Executive e la 'missione' di Filippo Caracciolo". Nuova Storia Contemporanea. No. 1. pp. 31–44.
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