OA

Racial ‘Sterility’ and ‘Hyperfecundity’ in Fascist Italy. Biological Politics of Sex and Reproduction

References

1.  In1878, Paolo Mantegazza, the holder of Italy’s first chair in anthropology and the founder of Italy’s first anthropological society, changed the name of the Florence-based Italian Society of Ethnology and Anthropology into the Italian Society of Anthropology, Ethnology, and Psychology.
2.  USF, MNAE, FM, letter1325, P. M. to G. O., 24 December 1885 and response of 1 January 1886.
3.  USF, MNAE, FM, letter2305, P. M. to G. O., 21 May 1897.
4.  USF, MNAE, FM, letter1973, 7February 1891; letter 1974, 11 February 1891; letter 2000, 1 November 1891; and letter 2052, 29 September 1892, all P. M. to G. O.
5.  USF, MNAE, FM, letter1738, Chevalier to P. M. on his ‘experiments on humans in the field of artificial insemination’, 20 June 1889.
6.  USF, MNAE, FM, letter1559, Illegible to P. M., 11 February 1888; letter 1572, C. Mantegazza to P. M., 31 March 1888; letter 1873, E. Marzola to P. M., 1 March 1890; letter 2091, P. M. to G. O, 18 April 1893.
7.  In1997, the Italian television network, Rai Due, broadcast a documentary entitled ‘Caso Pende’, made by Giovanni Minoli. This re-visited the old controversy surrounding the question of whether Pende had actually given his consent to the appearance of his name as one of the signatories (so-called ‘I Dieci’ or ‘The Ten’) of the manifesto, which first appeared in print in the Giornale d’Italia on 14 July 1938. In brief, Pende claimed to his death that he had never done so, but even his supporters accepted that the documentary proof was inconclusive – there was no damning ‘Hitler order’ as such, since an authenticated copy in manuscript form, with actual signatures did not exist; but neither was there the written condemnation of the manifesto, which Pende claimed that he had penned and published in September 1938. In any event, Pende was formally absolved of any crime, when large segments of the Jewish community came to his defence and argued that he had actually saved Jews in the final stages of the war, by hiding them in his clinic. Despite the official absolution, Pende’s post-war career suffered because of the controversy. He was repeatedly promised a Nobel Prize (on one occasion, his award of it was actually announced, in his presence, at a state dinner held by the Swiss monarch and then quickly withdrawn). It is important to note a certain persistent blindness and silence about racism in Italian culture. Gini, for example, continued to enjoy huge acclaim in the post-war period, despite his life-long racism, contempt for ‘primitive’ African races, his fierce opposition to the movement for anti-racism within anthropology and his criticisms of the civil rights movement in the United States. F. Cassata. Building the New Man. chapter 7. Scholars worldwide await the day when the principle of academic freedom is restored and the Pende private archives, which are currently being withheld from public access, are finally open to all.