Holiday colonies for Italian youth during Fascism

Marco Mulazzani

doi:10.52200/60.a.zseopkaa

Abstract

Thousands of summer colonies were created for youth in Fascist Italy (1922–1943). Most were temporary structures set up to assist children only during the daytime; dozens became the concrete symbol of the totalitarian project undertaken by Fascism to shape “new Italians” starting from childhood. Actually the colonies promoted by the organizations of the regime, state agencies and industrial companies, due to a lack of precise “models” of reference for the architects involved, present a highly varied expressive panorama, reflecting the complexity of the architectural debate in those years and the difficulties that faced any truly modern approach to architecture.

Highlights

Most were temporary structures set up to assist children only during the daytime; dozens became the concrete symbol of the totalitarian project undertaken by Fascism to shape “new Italians” starting from childhood
On 20 June 1937, in the enormous space of the Circo Massimo in Rome, Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) presented the Mostra Nazionale delle colonie estive e dell’assistenza all’infanzia (National exhibition of summer camps and assistance to children) — “an exhibition that is the only one of its kind,” Giuseppe Pagano (1896–1945) would opine in the magazine Casabella, “which demonstrates the interest of the Fascist State in the health of children” and its commitment to “a complex, complete undertaking, namely that of the protection and propagation of our lineage”[2]
The sequence began with a space on tourism and on the “fanciullo nell’arte” [boys in art], and continued with pavilions of the Opera Nazionale Maternità e Infanzia (ONMI), of assistance agencies (Ministry of the Interior, Red Cross, Social Welfare), education (National Education Ministry), rehabilitation of minors (Ministry of Justice), summer camps Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF), semi-public and private operators, the Fasci Italiani all’Estero [Italian Fascists abroad], the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB), merchandise sectors, and the activities of Fascist youth organizations

Summary

Introduction

Thousands of summer colonies were created for youth in Fascist Italy[1] (1922–1943). Most were temporary structures set up to assist children only during the daytime; dozens became the concrete symbol of the totalitarian project undertaken by Fascism to shape “new Italians” starting from childhood.

Results

Conclusion