Don Luigi Sturzo’s exile to London

Don Luigi Sturzo’s exile to London on October 25, 1924, formed part of the fascist regime’s attempt to consolidate itself during the political crisis after Giacomo Matteotti’s murder. The exile removed from Italy a priest and political organizer who had founded the Italian Popular Party and urged Catholics to take part in the nation’s public life.

Political Background

Sturzo came from a noble Sicilian family and was ordained a priest by the bishop of Caltagirone. In 1919 he founded the Italian Popular Party, the first party to call on Catholics to participate in national political life. His exile therefore affected more than a private individual: it fell on a prominent figure associated with organized Catholic participation in politics.

Exile in October 1924

The account records Sturzo’s exile to London on October 25, 1924, in a sequence it presents as a last attempt by besieged fascism to purify and reinforce itself. Two days earlier, Emilio De Bono had been removed from command of the militia, leaving Italo Balbo in charge. The passage gives no account of the procedure by which Sturzo was sent abroad, his response, or the conditions of his departure.

A Wider Campaign to Consolidate Power

Sturzo’s exile appears alongside other actions in the same late-October sequence. During a Paris trial connected with the killing of fascist Nicola Bonservizi, Curzio Malaparte produced a false document intended to implicate Giacomo Matteotti’s corpse. At the end of October, Luigi Pirandello acquired a party card. These episodes differ in kind, but the narrative groups them as efforts to strengthen fascism while the regime was under pressure.

Political Significance

The exile placed a founder of the Italian Popular Party outside Italy as opposition to the regime became more visible. On November 12, Parliament began publicly repudiating fascism during a commemoration that included Matteotti; Communist deputy Luigi Repossi protested that those implicated in murder should not commemorate their victim. The account does not establish that Sturzo’s exile caused this parliamentary turn, but its placement in the October sequence shows it as one measure in a broader political struggle over who could participate in public life.