Mussolini’s Great Defender: Carlo Silvestri

Carlo Silvestri had been an important figure during the 1924–1925 Matteotti investigation. He was an editor at Corriere della Sera, but a few days after the Matteotti murder he transferred to the Popolo, the Catholic newspaper directed by Giuseppe Donati. During the first investigation, the Donati-Silvestri duo led the entire press campaign for the popular anti-Mussolini newspaper. Silvestri had also been an important witness for the prosecution. He had informed investigators and the opposition press of the contents of Aldo Finzi’s memoir and the admissions Finzi made to him after his resignation. Silvestri’s depositions to prosecutors on September 29–30, 1924, implicitly indicated Mussolini as the instigator of the crime.