List of commanders of the Blackshirts

This article lists the commanders of the Blackshirts (Italian: Camicie Nere, CCNN; officially Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN — "Voluntary Militia for National Security"), a paramilitary wing of the Italian National Fascist Party (PNF), between the years of 1923[a] and 1943.

Commandants−General

Commandant-General of the Blackshirts
Comandante generale della MVSN (Italian)
Rank insignia
Command flag
Longest serving Benito Mussolini 12 October 1926–25 July 1943
Blackshirts
Type	Commanding officer of a paramilitary organization
Member of	Stato Maggiore della MVSN Grand Council of Fascism
Appointer	the Duce
Formation	1 February 1923
First holder	Held simultaneously by: Emilio De Bono Italo Balbo Cesare Maria De Vecchi
Final holder	Renato Ricci
Abolished	8 December 1943

The Commandant-General of the Blackshirts (Italian: Comandante generale della MVSN) was the supreme commander of the Blackshirts.

List of officeholders

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Marshal of Italy Emilio De Bono (1866–1944)	1 February 1923	31 October 1924	1 year, 273 days		National Fascist Party	[1]
1		Marshal of the Air Italo Balbo (1896–1940)	1 February 1923	31 October 1924	1 year, 273 days		National Fascist Party	[2]
1		General Cesare Maria De Vecchi (1884–1959)	1 February 1923	10 July 1925	2 years, 159 days		National Fascist Party	[3]
2		General Asclepia Gandolfo (1864–1925)	1 December 1924	31 August 1925	273 days		National Fascist Party	[4]
3		General Maurizio Ferrante Gonzaga (1861–1938)	12 September 1925	9 October 1926	1 year, 27 days		National Fascist Party	[5]
4		First Marshal of the Empire Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)	12 October 1926	25 July 1943	16 years, 286 days		National Fascist Party	[6]
5		General Quirino Armellini (1889–1975)	26 July 1943	8 September 1943	44 days		Independent	[7]
6		Renato Ricci (1896–1956)	20 September 1943	8 December 1943[b]	79 days		Republican Fascist Party	[8]

Timeline

Chiefs of Staff

Chief of Staff of the Blackshirts
Capo di stato maggiore della MVSN (Italian)
Rank insignia
Command flag
Longest serving Attilio Teruzzi 2 January 1929–3 October 1935
Blackshirts
Type	Chief of staff of a paramilitary organization
Member of	Stato Maggiore della MVSN Grand Council of Fascism
Appointer	the Duce
Formation	1 February 1923
First holder	Francesco Sacco [it]
Final holder	Renzo Montagna (acting)
Abolished	30 September 1943

The Chief of Staff of the Blackshirts (Italian: Capo di stato maggiore della MVSN) oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Blackshirts.

List of officeholders

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Lieutenant general Francesco Sacco [it] (1877–1958)	1 February 1923	1 December 1924	1 year, 304 days		National Fascist Party	[9]
2		Lieutenant general Enrico Bazan [it] (1864–1947)	1 December 1924	23 December 1928	4 years, 22 days		National Fascist Party	–
3		Lieutenant general Attilio Teruzzi (1882–1950)	2 January 1929	3 October 1935	6 years, 274 days		National Fascist Party	[10]
4		Lieutenant general Luigi Russo (1882–1964)	3 October 1935	3 November 1939	4 years, 31 days		National Fascist Party	–
5		Achille Starace (1889–1945)	3 November 1939	16 May 1941	1 year, 194 days		National Fascist Party	[11]
6		Lieutenant general Enzo Galbiati (1897–1982)	25 May 1941	26 July 1943	2 years, 62 days		National Fascist Party	[12]
–		Lieutenant general Renzo Montagna (1894–1978) Acting	17 September 1943	30 September 1943	13 days		Independent	[13]

Timeline

See also

• List of secretaries of Italian fascist parties

Notes

1. After approval by the Mussolini government on 28 December 1922, the draft law on founding the MVSN was approved by a resolution of the Grand Council of Fascism on 12 January 1923. The draft became law under Royal Decree No. 31 of 14 January 1923, issued by the King Victor Emmanuel III. The activities of the MVSN began on 1 February 1923.^[citation needed]
2. Continued as commander of the National Republican Guard.

References

1. Scaffei, Elvira Valleri, ed. (1987). "De Bono, Emilio". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 33. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
2. Berselli, Aldo, ed. (1963). "Balbo, Italo". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 5. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
3. Santarelli, Enzo, ed. (1991). "De Vecchi, Cesare Maria". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 39. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
4. Crociani, Piero, ed. (1999). "Gandolfo, Ascelpia". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 52. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
5. 14 gennaio 1923: nasce la Milizia, custode della rivoluzione fascista, Il Secolo d'Italia
6. Gentile, Emilio, ed. (2012). "Mussolini, Benito". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 77. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
7. Boatti, Giorgio, ed. (1988). "Armellini, Quirino". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 34. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
8. Teodori, Giovanni, ed. (2016). "Ricci, Renato". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 87. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
9. "Francesco Sacco, Senatori dell'Italia fascista" (in Italian). Retrieved 7 December 2018.
10. Attilio Teruzzi, Spazio in wind
11. Canali, Mauro, ed. (2019). "Starace, Achille". Treccani. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Vol. 94. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
12. Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, 1990, p. 144
13. "Biography of Major-General Renzo Montagna (1894 – 1978), Italy". generals.dk. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2021.