Domenico Tinozzi wrote this elegy on the occasion of the death of Bruno Mussolini (1918–1941), one of Benito Mussolini’s three sons with his wife Rachele (1890–1979). Bruno died at the age of 23 after a flying accident in 1941. Although he was an experienced pilot, he crashed into a house near the Gian Giusto Airport in Pisa and died of his injuries. Shortly after his death, in 1941, his father published a small personal book celebrating his memory, Parlo con Bruno (I Talk with Bruno), which was published again in a revised edition in 1942. Francesco Giardinieri and Tommaso Frosini also wrote Latin texts in honor of Bruno Mussolini.

In Parlo con Bruno, Mussolini specifically cited Tinozzi’s poem, writing: “La tua morte, Bruno, ha colpito la sensibilità dei poeti. Molte poesie sono apparse sui giornali e sulle riviste. Voglio riportare qui, quelle che mi sembrano le migliori, a cominciare dalle scritte in latino. Il professore Domenico Tinozzi di Cugnoli (Pescara), uno dei più illustri latinisti viventi, questa ti ha dedicato” (Mussolini 1941: 149). After citing Domenico Tinozzi’s poem, Mussolini also cited Francesco Giardinieri’s elegy. In addition to their Latin poems, he moreover cited, from various sources, Italian compositions in honor of his son written by, among others, Corrado Govoni, Giovanni Chiapparini, Giuliano Maggioni, Bruno Fattori, Fernando da Cesena, and Albino Pierro.

Tinozzi’s poem was printed in both editions of Mussolini's Parlo con Bruno: Tinozzi (1941) (A) and Tinozzi (1942) (B). It was reprinted in Mussolini's Opera omnia (= Tinozzi 1961) (C). While Mussolini did not indicate the source for Tinozzi’s poem, it seems likely it had already been published in a magazine or journal.

Bibliography

Tinozzi, Domenico. 1941. ‘[Elegy on the death of Bruno Mussolini, 1941]’. In Benito Mussolini, Parlo con Bruno, 1st ed., 149. Milan: Il popolo d’Italia.

———. 1942. ‘[Elegy on the death of Bruno Mussolini, 1941]’. In Benito Mussolini, Parlo con Bruno, 2nd ed., 128. Milan: Ulrico Hoepli.

———. 1961. ‘[Elegy on the death of Bruno Mussolini, 1941]’. In Benito Mussolini, Opera omnia, edited by Edoardo Susmel and Duilio Susmel, 34:257–58. Florence: La Fenice.

Han Lamers