Marcello Soleri

Marcello Soleri was born in 1882 and was an important lawyer in Cuneo. He was also a leading political figure not only for Cuneo, but also for Italy, in the years between the two World Wars. He was only 30 when he became Mayor of Cuneo, then in 1913 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies – a house of the bicameral Parliament of Italy - and supported Giolitti’s politics. During his short electoral mandate in Cuneo, he signed an agreement with Italy's state-owned railroad system to build a new railway station on the plateau and had a new town plan designed.
Soleri opposed Italy’s entrance into World War I, still he was always ready to debate the issue, and after Italy had entered the war, he volunteered to be sent to the front line. When he came back from the war, he was awarded a Medaglia al Valor Militare – a military decoration for honour and bravery - and reported Italian military officers’ wrong acts and incompetence during the conflict to the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati).
Under the Bonomi ministry, Soleri first served as Treasurer later to be appointed Minister of Defence under the Luigi Facta government. When Mussolini decided to march on Rome in 1922, he reacted and wanted to declare the martial law and send the army to stop Mussolini, but King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign the declaration of emergency.
After the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti and Mussolini's alleged involvement, in 1924 Soleri refused to support the action known as the Aventine Secession (Secessione dell’Aventino) when the opposition deputies withdrew from the Chamber to protest the murder. In fact he wanted to work for the overthrow of Mussolini as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, where he delivered major rousing speeches against the Fascist regime.
When his term as minister came to an end, Soleri returned to his hometown Cuneo, where he resumed his career as a lawyer. In 1943, in a crucial moment in the country’s history, he was invited to the Quirinal Palace by the king himself and on that occasion Soleri expressed his anti-fascist opinions.
Soon after Benito Mussolini had been overthrown, on 25th July 1943, from the balcony of his lawyer’s office at 2, Piazza Galimberti, Soleri urged people to keep calm at such a difficult moment in the history of the town and the country. Immediately afterwards, in the same square, Duccio Galimberti gave his famous speech to convince people to resist the nazi invasion. That historical moment was extremely dangerous and both leading politicians with their different points of view - Soleri’s exhortation to keep calm and Galimberti’s call for action - took on the responsibility for leading a town in complete disarray.
Soleri later met Galimberti and other anti-fascist people. In October 1943 he fled to Rome, where he took part in the activity of / joined the National Liberation Committee, which had gained official recognition as the representative of the Italian resistance movement.
After the return of King Victor Emmanuel III and the Prime minister Badoglio to Rome, he served as Treasurer from June 1944 to 1945. When he died of illness in 1945 the town paid tribute to him with a solemn funeral service. Moreover Cuneo has named some of its most important buildings and streets to Marcello Soleri and his towering figure in Italian politics, namely Viadotto Soleri (Soleri Viaduct), the railroad and road bridge leading to Corso Soleri - the avenue of trees where you can find the lower secondary school “Istituto Comprensivo di Cuneo” -, and to the central Piazza Galimberti.