Galeazzo Ciano

Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari was Foreign Minister of Fascist Italy from 1936 until 1943 and Benito Mussolinis soninlaw. OnJanuary 1944, Count Ciano was shot by firing squad at the behest of his fatherinlaw, Mussolini, under pressure from Nazi Germany. Ciano wrote and left behind a diary that has been used as a source by several historians, including William Shirer in his The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and in the 4hour HBO documentarydrama Mussolini and I.

Gian Galeazzo Ciano was born in Livorno, Italy, in 1903. He was the son of Costanzo Ciano and his wife Carolina Pini his father was an Admiral and World War I hero in the Royal Italian Navy . He was a founding member of the National Fascist Party and reorganizer of the Italian merchant navy in the 1920s. The elder Ciano, nicknamed Ganascia , was not above extracting private profit from his public office. He would use his influence to depress the stock of a company, after which he would buy a controlling interest, then increase his wealth after its value rebounded. Among other holdings, he owned a newspaper, farmland in Tuscany and other properties worth huge sums of money. As a result, his son Galeazzo was accustomed to living a highprofile and glamorous life, which he maintained almost until the end of his life. Father and son both took part in Mussolinis 1922 March on Rome. After studying Philosophy of Law at the University of Rome, the younger Ciano worked briefly as a journalist be

Source: Wikipedia