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Italian dictator Benito Mussolini maintained relationships with several mistresses – as many as 14 at a time, according to some – but none stuck by him quite as ardently as Clara Petacci. Petacci, his preferred paramour, kept a diary about her time as Mussolini's mistress that provides intimate insights into her lover's life and sexual behavior. Although never married to Mussolini, she was the woman behind one of the most powerful leaders of the twentieth century and died alongside him as a result. even perished by his side.
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When you learned about World War II in history class
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the subject of Mussolini's love life probably did not come up because your professor was a coward
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But Mussolini's womanizing was a big part of his reign and character. The Italian dictator had an insatiable appetite for the ladies
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One woman managed to get close to him and kept a detailed diary about their relationship
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that provides a rare glimpse into the private life of one of history's most notorious figures
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Today, we're talking about the diary of Clara Patacci, Mussolini's favorite mistress
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Okay, time to crack open that diary and spill all kinds of tea about Il Duce
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Clara, Claretta Patacci, led a privileged life as a child. Her father, Francesco Severio Patacci, was a successful physician at the Holy Apostolic Palaces, which is where the Pope lives
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So yeah, Dr. Patacci was kind of a big deal. When her father became a supporter of fascism
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it wouldn't be long before Clara followed suit. And although she grew up in a religious family
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Patacci idolized Mussolini from the time she was a child. Apparently, the narcissistic Italian dictator
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was irresistible to young girls, like an early 20th century Harry Styles
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if Harry Styles operated a puppet government in Italy. Patacci spent considerable time and effort
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trying to find a way to be with Mussolini. and she was destined to succeed
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By the time she turned 20, the pace of Potacci's Italian infatuation
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had accelerated to the point where she wanted to meet Il Duce in person
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She got her wish in 1932, when she and Mussolini happened to be driving down the same road one day
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Potacci's heart began racing when she noticed the dictator's Alfa Romeo. Desperate to meet the man she adored
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she urged her driver to follow Mussolini's vehicle. She rolled down her window shouting
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Il Duce, Il Duce, until the dictator finally stopped to meet the persistent Patachi
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According to Patachi, the meeting was love at first sight. And although she was 28 years younger than the fascist dictator
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Patachi carried on a relationship with him until the end of their lives
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which wasn't a very long time as it turned out. But she ended up being a big part of Il Duce's few remaining years
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In a twisted version of love at first sight, The first meeting between Patacci and Mussolini
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sparked a relationship that would last until both of them were in the ground. But accounts of the exact nature of the relationship vary
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Some sources say they started out just as friends When they met Mussolini was a married father of five Not that being married really mattered to Mussolini Meanwhile Potacci married an Air Force officer named
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Ricardo Federici in 1934, whom she would divorce two years later for her true love, Il Duce
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But according to Potacci's own diary, she sent him love letters often and started a secret relationship
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with the dictator only a few weeks after meeting him. However, a third account claims that Mussolini pursued Potacci
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calling her multiple times every day. When he couldn't catch her attention
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he asked her mother for permission to court her. Whatever the case may be
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Pitacci and Mussolini were a match. She became his favorite lover and a constant presence in his life
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The topic of Mussolini's sex life is at the top of the list of things that no one really wants to
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know, right next to how many spider legs were in that can of peaches. But thanks to Clara Pitacci
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Mussolini's romantic exploits are part of history. Although most accounts point to Ilduce being a selfish lover
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Patachi describes him in a much different light. She got pretty poetic about her trysts in her diary, writing
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I hold him tightly, I kiss him, and His screams seem like those of a wounded beast
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He bit my shoulder so hard his teeth left a mark. Eh, maybe Mussolini was a werewolf, like in Twilight
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Maybe that's why teenagers were so into him. But Clara wasn't the only one who felt passionate about the affair
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Mussolini also enjoyed the intensity of their relationship, writing to her, Be afraid of my love. It's like a cyclone. It's tremendous. It overwhelms everything
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You must tremble. That sounds like the kind of love poem a supervillain would write, which Mussolini technically was
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His letters were probably written in newspaper clippings, like a ransom note. But vague threats of bedroom cyclones weren't the extent of his affection for Patachi
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He called himself her giant, and once wrote to her, I tremble in telling you, but I have a feverish desire to kiss you all over, and you must adore me, your giant
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Mussolini was really insistent on being called a giant. While Potacci's diary is full of love letters, the dictator regularly told her about his many other romantic dalliances, which she dutifully recorded
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He complained and lamented to her that he had only slept with three women during the 1920s
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The Great Depression, indeed. As Mussolini rose to power, he found a way to conquer this inexcusable dry spell
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You see, Clara Pitacci wasn't the only female crushing on him from afar. Women were drawn to him and would send him regular mail
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He ordered his staff to comb through the letters and select the most suitable women he could go meet for coffee His goal was to have as many women on call as possible to satisfy him at any time Calling him a womanizer would be an
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understatement. He was closer to a revolving door. He often entertained women in his offices
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Sometimes he had a few of them over in the same night. In 1938, he told Patachi that he'd had an
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encounter with one woman at 8pm, another at 9pm, another at 10pm, before ending the night with a
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terrible woman whose name he had forgotten. Eh, apparently Mussolini was the founding member of Motley Crue
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In case anyone had any room left to be disappointed with the behavior of a controlling fascist
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dictator, it turns out Mussolini was also a controlling fascist lover. Surprise
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Despite his insistence on having an array of women at his beck and call, Mussolini was
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especially overprotective of Clara Pitacci. He was a petty and jealous man, wishing to assert ownership over her
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She wasn't allowed to go out if he wasn't around, and he posted guards all around to watch her like a hawk
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But being his mistress came with some perks, including a chauffeur, her own bodyguards, and a room at the palace
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Also, Il Duce's many restrictions gave her plenty of time to write. And she was prolific, churning out over 2,000 pages during her time as Mussolini's main squeeze
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Her writings also reveal that she was intensely jealous of her lover as well
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and frequently vented over Mussolini's philandering ways. Despite the influence he held over Patacci and countless other female admirers
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Mussolini was allegedly quite intimidated by women in power, which may have contributed to his desire to control every aspect of Patacci's life
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For example, Princess Maria José, the daughter of the King of Belgium
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once attempted to seduce Mussolini, which you'd think Mussolini would have been all about
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According to accounts, Maria facilitated communication between her father and Mussolini before becoming the last queen of Italy when she married King Umberto
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Potacci wrote about the princess's attempt at seduction in one of her diaries
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Apparently, the princess made a few attempts to capture the dictator's affection by wearing some extremely revealing clothing
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which is a phrase here meaning basically nothing at all. But Mussolini failed to rise to the occasion
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Yeah, that's exactly what we mean. Hey, if you use a tool that often, you're gonna break that thing eventually
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This humiliated him greatly, and he believed the princess thought he was an idiot
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Rumors surrounding the relationship between Maria Jose and Mussolini were common. According to a letter published by Mussolini's son in 1971
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I can confirm in good faith that often in our house we spoke of both the political and sentimental dealings of my father with Maria Jos Between my father and the then of Piedmont there was a brief period when they had a sentimental relationship
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Yeah, it definitely sounded brief. After the war, Maria José spoke out against fascism and Mussolini's regime
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Whether or not their alleged encounter actually took place is a topic of debate, so we'll have to rely on the accounts of Patachi
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Potacci's final years with Mussolini were considerably less romantic. Considering how their relationship had been up to that point, that's really saying something
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As the war began to turn against Hitler and his cronies, Mussolini was voted out of office by July
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of 1943. But he refused to give up his power, so he was arrested and sent to the island of Ponzio
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in the Mediterranean, where he was rescued by German forces in September of the same year
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He traveled to Germany and attempted to reinstall his fascist state from northern Italy
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but was unsuccessful. With the Axis powers significantly weakened, Italy's Communist Party took control of the country
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They were not big fans of Il Duce and subsequently ordered his death
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Mussolini refused to leave Italy, fleeing to the mountains instead. The displaced dictator desperately tried to drum up some support, but was unable to secure
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enough to put him back on top, or even to guarantee his safety. He and Pitacci traveled to the Italian-Swiss border with several other German soldiers
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and tried to slip away from the whole World War II thing unnoticed. But Mussolini is a tough dude to disguise, and he and Pitacci were captured and taken
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into custody on April 27. They were briefly kept hidden in a farmhouse to throw off any German forces attempting a rescue
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Then, on April 28, 1945, Mussolini and Pitacci were eliminated by firing squad
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Their bodies were strung up in front of a gas station to be pelted with rocks
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trash, and vegetables by crowds of jeering Italians, just like Romeo and Juliet
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After the war, Patacci's family pursued civil and criminal cases against Walter Audizio
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an Italian resistance leader who had carried out Clara's execution. They argued that Clara should have been spared
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After all, she was a civilian who didn't exactly wield a ton of influence in Mussolini's government
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Audizio was eventually acquitted, and the case was closed in 1967. Meanwhile, Clara and her affair with Il Duce
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have been the subject of much fascination in the decades since the end of the war
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Her story has even been adapted into several films, most notably the 1984 Italian drama Claretta, starring Claudia Cardinale
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as the woman with a doomed crush on one of the 20th century's most notorious villains
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Hope she doesn't mind us reading her diary
#Death & Tragedy