Galeazzo Ciano

{{Short description |Italian diplomat and politician (1903–1944)}} {{Use dmy dates |date=October 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_name = Gian Galeazzo Ciano |honorific_prefix = Count | image = Galeazzo Ciano01.jpg | caption = Ciano in 1936 | order1 = Ambassador of Italy to Vatican City | term_start1 = 5 February 1943 | term_end1 = 25 July 1943 | predecessor1 = Raffaele Guariglia | successor1 = Francesco Babuscio Rizzo | order2 = Minister of Foreign Affairs | term_start2 = 9 June 1936 | term_end2 = 6 February 1943 | 1blankname2 = Prime Minister | 1namedata2 = Benito Mussolini | predecessor2 = Benito Mussolini | successor2 = Benito Mussolini | order3 = Minister of Press and Propaganda | term_start3 = 23 June 1935 | term_end3 = 11 June 1936 | 1blankname3 = Prime Minister | 1namedata3 = Benito Mussolini | predecessor3 = ''Position established'' | successor3 = Dino Alfieri | order4 = Member of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations | term_start4 = 23 March 1939 | term_end4 = 5 August 1943 | appointer4 = Benito Mussolini | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1903|3|18}} | birth_place = Livorno, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1944|1|11|1903|3|18}} | death_place = Verona, Veneto, Italian Social Republic | death_cause = Execution by firing squad | party = National Fascist Party | height = {{convert|1.79|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | parents = Costanzo Ciano (father)<br />Carolina Pini (mother) | spouse = {{marriage|Edda Mussolini|24 April 1930}} | children = 3 | profession = {{hlist|Diplomat|politician}} | signature = Faschist Rassengesetze 17 Nov 1938 (cropped) - Signature of Galeazzo Ciano.jpg | footnotes = }}

'''Gian Galeazzo Ciano, 2nd Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɑː|n|oʊ}} {{respell|CHAH|noh}}, {{IPA|it|ɡaleˈattso ˈtʃaːno|lang}}; 18 March 1903 – 11 January 1944), was an Italian diplomat and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Italy under the government of his father-in-law, Benito Mussolini, from 1936 until 1943. During this period, he was widely seen as Mussolini's most probable successor as head of government.<ref>{{cite news |first=Angelo |last=d'Orsi |title=Il genero del regime. Vita e morte di Galeazzo Ciano nel libro di Eugenio Di Rienzo |date=10 April 2019 |access-date=25 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417122741/http://temi.repubblica.it/micromega-online/il-genero-del-regime-vita-e-morte-di-galeazzo-ciano-nel-libro-di-eugenio-di-rienzo |archive-date=17 April 2019 |publisher=Edito da Micromega Edizioni impresa sociale SRL (GEDI Gruppo Editoriale S.p.A.) |editor2-first=Cinzia |editor2-last=Sciuto |editor3-first=Giorgio |editor3-last=Ruffolo |location=Rome, Italy |issn=2282-121X |editor1-first=Paolo |editor1-last=Flores d'Arcais |work=MicroMega |url=http://temi.repubblica.it/micromega-online/il-genero-del-regime-vita-e-morte-di-galeazzo-ciano-nel-libro-di-eugenio-di-rienzo |url-status=dead |language=Italian }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Mussolini il fascista numero uno |publisher=Fondazione Istituto Gramsci |jstor=20565036 |date=10 January 1982 |volume=23 |issue=1 |first=Marco |last=Palla |journal=Studi Storici |pages=23–49 |issn=0039-3037 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20565036 |access-date=27 July 2021 |editor1-first=Leonardo |editor1-last=Rapone |editor2-first=Alexander |editor2-last=Höbel |location=Rome, Italy |editor3-first=Alessandro |editor3-last=Larussa |language=Italian }}</ref>

He was the son of Admiral Costanzo Ciano, a founding member of the National Fascist Party; father and son both took part in Mussolini's March on Rome in 1922. Ciano saw action in the Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–36) and was appointed Foreign Minister on his return. Following a series of Axis defeats in the Second World War, Ciano began pushing for Italy's exit, and he was dismissed from his post as a result. He then served as ambassador to the Vatican.

In July 1943, Ciano was among the members of the Grand Council of Fascism that forced Mussolini's ousting and subsequent arrest. Ciano proceeded to flee to Germany but was arrested and handed over to Mussolini's new regime based in Salò, the Italian Social Republic. Mussolini ordered Ciano's death, and in January 1944, he was executed by firing squad.<ref name="Moseley2004">{{cite book |lccn=2003026579 |isbn=9781589790957 |first=Ray |last=Moseley |title=Mussolini: The last 600 of il Duce |location=Dallas, TX |publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing |via=Internet Archive |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/mussolinilast60000mose/page/79/mode/2up |url=https://archive.org/details/mussolinilast60000mose |page=79 |oclc=1036749435 |chapter=7. Galeazzo Ciano and Edda |year=2004 |orig-date=1932 |edition=5th |language=English }}</ref>

Ciano wrote and left behind a diary{{sfn|Ciano|2002}} that has been used as a source by several historians, including William Shirer in his 1960 book ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich''{{sfn |Shirer |1960 |p=436 }} and in the four-hour HBO documentary-drama ''Mussolini and I'' (1985).<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Mussolini and I (Mussolini: The Decline and Fall of Il Duce) |department=HBO |editor1-first=Roberto |editor1-last=Perpignani |editor1-link=Roberto Perpignani |editor2-first=Egisto |editor2-last=Macchi |publisher=Rai Uno/HBO Premier Films |location=Italy |date=15 April 1985 |medium=motion picture |people=Negrin, Alberto (director); Gallo, Mario (producer); Gulllioli, Emzo (producer) Haskins, Bob (actor); Hopkins, Anthony (actor); Sarandon, Susan (actor) }}</ref>

==Early life== Gian Galeazzo Ciano was born in Livorno, Italy, in 1903. He was the son of Costanzo Ciano and his wife Carolina Pini;{{sfn|Hof|2021|p=4|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?&id=HrgsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 Introduction]}} his father was an Admiral and World War I hero in the Royal Italian Navy (for which service he was given the aristocratic title of Count by Victor Emmanuel III).{{sfn|Hof|2021|p=5|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?&id=HrgsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 Introduction]}} The elder Ciano, nicknamed ''Ganascia'' ("The Jaw"), was a founding member of the National Fascist Party and re-organiser of the Italian merchant navy in the 1920s. Costanzo Ciano 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, Costanzo Ciano 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 high-profile and glamorous lifestyle, which he maintained almost until the end of his life. Father and son both took part in Mussolini's 1922 March on Rome.{{sfn|Hof|2021|p=92|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?&id=HrgsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 2. The Politician]}}

After studying Philosophy of Law at the University of Rome, Galeazzo Ciano worked briefly as a journalist before choosing a diplomatic career; soon, he served as an attaché in Rio de Janeiro.{{sfn|Hof|2021|pp=137-213|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?&id=HrgsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 Chapter 3. The Diplomat]}} According to Mrs. Milton E. Miles, in the 1920s in Beijing, Ciano met Wallis Simpson, later the Duchess of Windsor, had an affair with her, and left her pregnant, leading to a botched abortion that left her infertile. The rumour was later widespread but never substantiated, and Ciano's wife, Edda Mussolini, denied it.<ref>{{citation |author=Moseley, Ray |year=1999 |title=Mussolini's Shadow: The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-07917-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mussolinisshadow00mose/page/9 9–10]}}</ref>

On 24 April 1930, when he was 27 years old, Ciano married Benito Mussolini's daughter Edda Mussolini,<ref name="Moseley2004" /> and they had three children (Fabrizio, Raimonda and Marzio), though he was known to have had several affairs while married.<ref>{{cite book |publisher=Salerno Editrice |date=29 November 2018 |language=Italian |title=Ciano: Vita pubblica e privata del 'genero di regime' nell'Italia del Ventennio nero |first=Eugenio |last=Di Rienzo |isbn=9788869733420 |series=Profili (Salerno editrice) |location=Rome, Italy |editor1-first=Davide |editor1-last=Grossi |editor2-first=Andrea |editor2-last=Mazzuchi |editor3-first=Enrico |editor3-last=Malato |editor4-first=Cetty |editor4-last=Spadaro }}</ref> Soon after their marriage, they left for China where he served as an attache at the Italian Legation in Beijing before serving as Italian consul in Shanghai.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coco |first1=Orazio |title=Sino-Italian Political and Economic Relations: From the Treaty of Friendship to the Second World War |date=14 February 2024 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |isbn=978-1-003-14326-0 |page=48 |doi=10.4324/9781003143260 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003143260/sino-italian-political-economic-relations-orazio-coco}}</ref>

==Political career== ===Minister of press and propaganda=== On his return to Italy in 1935, Ciano became the minister of press and propaganda in the government of his father-in-law.{{sfn|Hof|2021|pp=214-267|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?&id=HrgsEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 Chapter 4. The Successor]}}<ref name="DAnnibale" /> He volunteered for action in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935–36) as a bomber squadron commander. He received two silver medals of valour and reached the rank of captain. His future opponent Alessandro Pavolini served in the same squadron as a lieutenant.

===Foreign minister=== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R69173, Münchener Abkommen, Staatschefs.jpg|thumb|right|Ciano (far right) standing alongside (right to left) Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, Édouard Daladier, and Neville Chamberlain prior to the signing of the Munich Agreement]] Upon his highly trumpeted return from the war as a "hero" in 1936, he was appointed by Mussolini as the replacement Foreign Minister. Ciano began to keep a diary a short time after his appointment and kept it active up to his 1943 dismissal as foreign minister. In 1937, he was allegedly involved in planning the murder of the brothers Carlo and Nello Rosselli, two exiled anti-fascist activists killed in the French spa town of Bagnoles-de-l'Orne on 9 June. Also in 1937, prior to the Italian annexation in 1939, Gian Galeazzo Ciano was named an Honorary Citizen of Tirana, Albania.<ref>[http://www.tirana.gov.al/common/images/Konti%20GALEACIO%20CIANO.pdf Municipality of Tirana website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012100253/http://tirana.gov.al/common/images/Konti%20GALEACIO%20CIANO.pdf |date=12 October 2011 }}, tirana.gov.al; accessed 5 January 2016.</ref>

Before World War II, Mussolini may have been preparing Ciano to succeed him as ''Duce''.<ref name="gunther1940">{{cite book|chapter=XVI. Who Else in Italy? |pages=257–258 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.149663/2015.149663.Inside-Europe#page/n279/mode/2up |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.149663/2015.149663.Inside-Europe |first=John |last=Gunther |author-link=John Gunther |title=Inside Europe |language=English |format=PDF |location=New York |publisher=Harper & Brothers |orig-date=1919 |year=1940 |edition=8th |via=Internet Archive }}</ref> At the start of the war in 1939, Ciano did not agree with Mussolini's plans and knew that Italy's armed forces were ill-prepared for a major war. When Mussolini formally declared war on France in 1940, he wrote in his diary, ''"I am sad, very sad. The adventure begins. May God help Italy!"''{{sfn|Ciano|2002|pp=308-408|loc=Chapter 3. 1939}}<ref name="Ciano">{{cite journal |title=L'Ungheria, gli ungheresi e Galeazzo Ciano |trans-title=Hungary, the Hungarians and Galeazzo Ciano |first=Francesco |last=Guida |year=2016 |journal=Öt Kontinens |access-date=27 July 2021 |issue=2 |pages=75–85 |issn=1589-3839 |volume=13 |publisher=Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, Új-és Jelenkori Egyetemes Történeti Tanszék (Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Modern and Contemporary Universal History) |location=Budapest, Hungary |editor1-first=Gábor |editor1-last=Andreides |language=Italian |editor2-first=Balázs |editor2-last=Juhász |via=Central and Eastern European Online Library GmbH (CEEOL) |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=923784 }}</ref> Ciano became increasingly disenchanted with Nazi Germany and the course of World War II, although when the Italian regime embarked on an ill-advised "parallel war" alongside Germany, he went along, despite the terribly-executed Italian invasion of Greece and its subsequent setbacks. Prior to the German campaign in France in 1940, Ciano leaked a warning of imminent invasion to neutral Belgium.<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Francisco |last=Danisi |title=La figura di Galeazzo Ciano e la politica estera del fascismo: Un bilancio storiografico |degree=Master's |location=Rome, Italy |access-date=27 July 2021 |publisher=Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali "Guido Carli" |year=2018 |url=https://tesi.luiss.it/id/eprint/23950 |language=Italian |trans-title=The figure of Galeazzo Ciano and the foreign policy of fascism: A historiographical balance}}</ref>

Throughout 1941 and thereafter, Ciano made derogatory and sarcastic comments about Mussolini behind his back and was surprised that these comments were reported to the Duce, who did not take them lightly; for his part, Ciano ignored well-meaning friends who advised moderation.<ref name="DAnnibale">{{cite journal |first1=Elisa |last1=D'Annibale |first2=Eugenio |last2=Di Rienzo |language=Italian |trans-title=Notes about Galeazzo Ciano's Royal Italian Ministry for Public Education and Propaganda and the birth of the ministry for printing and propaganda |title=Gli appunti circa il Reichsministerium für volksaufklärung und propaganda di Galeazzo Ciano e la nascita del ministerio per la stapma e propaganda |journal=Nuova Rivista Storica |volume=101 |issue=2 |pages=619–638 |publisher=Societa Editrice Dante Alighieri s.r.l./Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche di Università degli Studi di Roma – La Sapienza |location=Rome, Italy |date=1 May 2017 |issn=0469-2462 |editor1-first=Marcello |editor1-last=Rinaldi |editor2-first=Elisa |editor2-last=D'Annibale |editor3-first=Fabrizio |editor3-last=Rudi |editor4-first=Ida |editor4-last=Xoxa |url=https://web.a.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=00296236&AN=123951682&h=REup1ow1LjtynEZEnstrdU16WJasEkGouHI9zI4pi%2f0%2b3kyNHzv%2f1WeWCUXRhXEl2GedZXhxJK0YKpJPALhYXA%3d%3d&crl=c |access-date=27 July 2021 }}</ref> On top of that, friends and acquaintances sought his protection and aid on various matters not having to do with his official position, which in turn resulted in further caustic remarks. In addition, two relatively minor incidents wounded his overblown self-importance and vanity. One was his being excluded from a projected meeting between Mussolini and Franco. The other involved him being reprimanded for a rowdy celebration of an aviator in Bari; he wrote a letter to Mussolini stating that the Duce had "opened a wound in him which can never be closed." His own self-worth seemed to cloud his judgement, forgetting that he had acquired his position by marrying Mussolini's daughter.<ref>{{cite book |first=Dino |last=Alfieri |language=Spanish |editor1-first=Luis |editor1-last=de Caralt |title=Dos dictadores frente a frente |year=1967 |orig-date=1950 |publisher=Librería Pérez Galdós - El Galeón |location=Barcelona}}</ref>

In late 1942 and early 1943, following the Axis defeat in North Africa, other major setbacks on the Eastern Front, and with an Anglo-American assault on Sicily looming, Ciano turned against the doomed war and actively pushed for Italy's exit from the conflict. He was silenced by being removed from his post as foreign minister. The rest of the cabinet was removed as well on 5 February 1943.<ref name="renamed_from_123_on_20230623205150">{{cite report |date=1 March 1943 |access-date=27 July 2021 |language=Italian |author=Pope Pius XII |title=Al nuovo Ambasciatore Straordinario e Plenipotenziario d'Italia, S.E. il Conte Galeazzo Ciano di Cortellazzo, in occasione della presentazione delle Lettere Credenziali (1° marzo 1943) |trans-title=To the new Extraordinary Ambassador and Plenipotentiary of Italy His Excellence the Count Galeazzo Ciano di Cortellazzo in the occasion of his presentation of his diplomatic credentials (1° marzo 1943) |location=Vatican City |issue=15 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/speeches/1943/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19430301_ambasciatore-italia_it.html |publisher=Vatican polyglot typography |pages=405–406 |volume=IV |series=Discorsi e Radiomessaggi di Sua Santità Pio XII (Quarto anno di Pontificato, 2 marzo 1942 - 1° marzo 1943) |archive-date=6 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206065237/https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/it/speeches/1943/documents/hf_p-xii_spe_19430301_ambasciatore-italia.html |via=Libreria Editrice Vaticana }}</ref>

===Ambassador to the Holy See=== Ciano was offered the post of ambassador to the Holy See, and presented his credentials to Pope Pius XII on March 1, 1943.<ref name="renamed_from_123_on_20230623205150"/> In this role, he remained in Rome, watched closely by Mussolini. The regime's position had become even more unstable by the coming summer, however, and court circles were already probing the Allied commands for some sort of agreement.<ref name="Ciano" />{{sfn|Caprioli|2012|pp=5-6|loc=Introduction}}

On the afternoon of 24 July 1943, Mussolini summoned the Fascist Grand Council to its first meeting since 1939, prompted by the Allied invasion of Sicily. At that meeting, Mussolini announced that the Germans were thinking of evacuating the south. This led Dino Grandi to launch a blistering attack on his longtime comrade. Grandi put on the table a resolution asking King Victor Emmanuel III to resume his full constitutional powers – in effect, a vote leading to Mussolini's ousting from leadership. The motion won by an unexpectedly large margin, 19–8, with Ciano voting in favour. Mussolini's replacement was Pietro Badoglio, an Italian general in both World Wars.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heberlein |first=Wolf |volume=26 |publisher=Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH |jstor=43527439 |issue=1 |year=1936 |title=Graf Galeazzo Ciano |journal=Zeitschrift für Politik |issn=0044-3360 |pages=649–651 |language=German |location=Baden-Baden |trans-title=Count Galeazzo Ciano |editor1-first=Maurizio |editor1-last=Bach |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43527439 |editor2-first=Nils |editor2-last=Goldschmidt |access-date=27 July 2021 }}</ref> Mussolini did not expect the vote to have substantive effect, and showed up for work the next morning as usual. That afternoon, the king summoned him to Villa Savoia and dismissed him from office. Upon leaving the villa, Mussolini was arrested.<ref name="Palla" />

==Exile, trial and death== [[File:Processo Verona 1944.png|thumb|right|Ciano trial in Verona, 1944]] Ciano was dismissed from his ambassador's post by the new government of Italy, put in place after his father-in-law was overthrown. Later, he and Edda were put under home arrest. Fearing further prosecution by the new Italian government, Ciano and Edda secretly turned to the Germans for help, and after covertly fleeing their villa with their three children on 27 August 1943, were evacuated on a German military plane from Ciampino airport to Munich.

After they were evacuated to Germany and placed in a secluded villa near Munich, Ciano and Edda applied for permission to be transferred to neutral Spain where they hoped to wait till the war's end. The application was denied, and as the Germans were furious at Ciano for his anti-Mussolini vote at the 24 July Fascist Grand Council meeting, they turned Ciano over to Mussolini's new government, the Italian Social Republic formed on 23 September, agreeing with Mussolini that Ciano would be viewed as a traitor. Ciano was then formally arrested on charges of treason. Under German and Fascist pressure, Mussolini kept Ciano imprisoned before he was tried at court and found guilty.<ref name="Palla">{{cite journal |title=Mussolini il fascista numero uno |publisher=Fondazione Istituto Gramsci |jstor=20565036 |date=10 January 1982 |volume=23 |issue=1 |first=Marco |last=Palla |journal=Studi Storici |pages=23–49 |issn=0039-3037 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20565036 |access-date=27 July 2021 |editor1-first=Leonardo |editor1-last=Rapone |editor2-first=Alexander |editor2-last=Höbel |location=Rome, Italy |editor3-first=Alessandro |editor3-last=Larussa |language=Italian }}</ref> After the Verona trial and sentence, on 11 January 1944, Ciano was executed by a firing squad along with four others (Emilio De Bono, Luciano Gottardi, Giovanni Marinelli and Carlo Pareschi) who had voted for Mussolini's ousting. As a further humiliation, the condemned men were tied to chairs and shot.<ref name="Telegraph 17 April 2009">{{cite news |title=Mussolini's daughter's affair with communist revealed in love letters |date=17 April 2009 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5172897/Mussolinis-daughters-affair-with-communist-revealed-in-love-letters.html |work=The Telegraph |publisher=Telegraph Media Group |location=London |editor1-first=Tony |editor1-last=Gallagher |editor1-link=Tony Gallagher (editor) |archive-date=22 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422174421/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/5172897/Mussolinis-daughters-affair-with-communist-revealed-in-love-letters.html |access-date=25 July 2021 }}.</ref>

Ciano is remembered for his ''Diaries 1937–1943'',<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=Bachelor of Arts |first=Paige Y. |last=Durgin |location=Hartford, CT |title=Framed in Death: The Historical Memory of Galeazzo Ciano |publisher=Trinity College |language=en |format=PDF |date=Spring 2012 |access-date=27 July 2021 |url=https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1151&context=theses}}</ref> a revealing daily record of his meetings with Mussolini, Hitler, Ribbentrop, foreign ambassadors and other political figures. Edda tried to barter his papers to the Germans in return for his life; Gestapo agents helped her confidant Emilio Pucci rescue some of them from Rome. Pucci was then a lieutenant in the Italian Air Force, but would find fame after the war as a fashion designer. When Hitler vetoed the plan, she hid the bulk of the papers at a clinic in Ramiola, near Medesano and on 9 January 1944, Pucci helped Edda escape to Switzerland with five diaries covering the war years which were then buried beneath a rose garden.{{sfn|Smyth|Ciano|1993|pp=1-50|}} The diary was first published in English in London in 1946, edited by Malcolm Muggeridge, covering 1939 to 1943.{{sfn|Ciano|1947}} The complete English version was published in 2002.{{sfn|Ciano|2002}}

==Children== Gian Galeazzo and Edda Ciano had three children: * Fabrizio Ciano, 3rd Conte di Cortellazzo e Buccari (Shanghai, 1 October 1931 – San José, Costa Rica, 8 April 2008), married to Beatriz Uzcategui Jahn, without issue. Wrote a personal memoir entitled ''Quando il nonno fece fucilare papà'' (When Grandpa Had Daddy Shot). * Raimonda Ciano (Rome, 12 December 1933 – Rome, 24 May 1998), married to ''Nobile'' Alessandro Giunta (born 1929), son of ''Nobile'' Francesco Giunta (Piero, 1887–1971) and wife (m. Rome, 1924) Zenaida del Gallo Marchesa di Roccagiovine (Rome, 1902 – São Paulo, Brazil, 1988) * Marzio Ciano (Rome, 18 December 1937 – 11 April 1974), married Gloria Lucchesi

==In popular culture== * Several films have depicted Ciano's life, including ''The Verona Trial'' (1962) by Carlo Lizzani, where he is played by Frank Wolff and ''Mussolini and I'' (1985) in which he was played by Anthony Hopkins. * In Serbia, there is a proverb: "Living like Count Ciano" – describing a flamboyant and luxurious life (Živi k'o grof Ćano/Живи к'о гроф Ћано). * Ciano's diaries were published in 1946 and were used by the prosecution against Hitler's Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, during the post-war Nuremberg Trials.

==References==

===Notes=== {{Reflist}}

===Sources=== {{Refbegin |30em |indent=yes}} *{{cite Q |Q138029595 |last=Shirer |first=William Lawrence |author-link=William L. Shirer }}{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFShirer1960}} {{Refend}}

===Bibliography=== {{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}} * {{cite book |first=Galeazzo |last=Ciano |title=Ciano's Diary, 1939–1943 |editor1-first=Malcolm |editor1-last=Muggeridge |editor1-link=Malcolm Muggeridge |translator=V. Umberto Coletti-Perucca |location=London |publisher=William Heinemann Ltd. |edition=3rd |year=1947 |orig-date=1943}} * {{cite book |title=Ciano's diplomatic papers: being a record of nearly 200 conversations held during the years 1936–42 with Hitler, Mussolini, Franco; together with important memoranda, letters, telegrams, etc. |oclc=1085348 |translator=Stuart Hood |editor1-first=Malcolm |editor1-last=Muggeridge |editor1-link=Malcolm Muggeridge |location=London |publisher=Odhams Press |year=1948 |orig-date=1943 |first=Galeazzo |last=Ciano |edition=1st |lccn=49019765 |language=English}} * {{cite book |title=Diary 1937–1943 |translator-first1=Robert Lawrence |translator-last1=Miller |first=Galeazzo |last=Ciano |publisher=Enigma Books |isbn=9781929631025 |year=2002 |orig-date=1943 |edition=2nd |location=New York |lccn=2004-266790 |editor1-first=Stanislao G. |editor1-last=Pugliese |oclc=49545875 |editor2-first=Robert Lawrence |editor2-last=Miller |editor3-first=Hugh |editor3-last=Gibson |translator-first2=V. Umberto |translator-last2=Coletti-Perucca}} * {{cite book |title=Galeazzo Ciano: The Fascist Pretender |first=Tobias |last=Hof |location=Toronto |editor1-first=Larry P. |editor1-last=Alford |editor2-first=John |editor2-last=Yates |publisher=University of Toronto Press/Gerda Henkel Foundation |series=Toronto Italian studies |isbn=9781487507985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HrgsEAAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |year=2021 |edition=1st |language=English}} * {{cite book |title=The Ciano Diaries, 1939-1943: The Complete, Unabridged Diaries of Count Galeazzo Ciano, Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1936-1943 |orig-date=1946 |editor1-first=Hugh |editor1-last=Gibson |first=Galeazzo |last=Ciano |location=Garden City, NY |year=2000 |publisher=Doubleday |language=English |isbn=1-931313-74-1}} * {{cite book |title=Un amore fascista. Benito, Edda e Galeazzo |series=Le scie |isbn=9788804534679 |first=Giordano Bruno |last=Guerri |language=Italian |editor1-first=Marina |editor1-last=Berlusconi |editor1-link=Marina Berlusconi |publisher=Arnoldo Mondadori Editore (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A.) |location=Segrate, Italy |year=2006 |orig-date=2005 |edition=2nd}} * {{cite book |title=Дневник фашиста. 1939–1943 |trans-title=The diary of a fascist. 1939–1943 |year=2010 |language=Russian |first=Galeazzo |last=Ciano |location=Moscow |publisher=Platz |isbn=978-5-903514-02-1 |pages=676 |series=Primary sources of recent history}} * {{cite book |first=Ray |last=Moseley |title=Mussolini's Shadow: The Double Life of Count Galeazzo Ciano |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |editor1-first=Adina Popescu |editor1-last=Berk |oclc=41497106 |isbn=978-0300209563 |date=18 March 2014 |orig-date=2000 |edition=2nd}} * {{cite book |year=2010 |orig-date=2002 |edition=2nd |title=Mussolini |first=Richard J.B. |last=Bosworth |isbn=9781849660242 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London |editor1-first=Nigel |editor1-last=Newton |editor1-link=Nigel Newton |editor2-first=Richard |editor2-last=Lambert |editor2-link=Richard Lambert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzLQAgAAQBAJ |via=Google Books |oclc=731060695 |author-link=R.J.B. Bosworth}} * {{cite journal |url=https://academic.oup.com/jicj/article-abstract/4/1/103/822008 |doi=10.1093/jicj/mqi095 |pages=103–127 |first1=Michael |last1=Salter |first2=Lorie |last2=Charlesworth |volume=4 |issue=1 |journal=Journal of International Criminal Justice |date=1 March 2006 |title=Ribbentrop and the Ciano Diaries at the Nuremberg Trial |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |issn=1478-1387 |editor1-first=Antonio |editor1-last=Cassese |editor2-first=Urmila |editor2-last=Dé |archive-date=3 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103124007/https://academic.oup.com/jicj/article-abstract/4/1/103/822008 |oclc=52158126 |access-date=25 July 2021 |url-access=subscription}} * {{cite book |title=Quando il nonno fece fucilare papà |language=Italian |first=Fabrizio |last=Ciano |isbn=9788804349945 |publisher=Arnoldo Mondadori Editore (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A.) |location=Segrate, Italy |editor2-first=Leonardo |editor2-last=Mondadori |year=1992 |orig-date=1991 |edition=5th |trans-title=When Grandpa Had Daddy Shot |oclc=797756689 |editor1-first=Dino |editor1-last=Cimagalli}} * "Galeazzo Ciano's Last Reflections before Execution." World War II Today RSS. Accessed 25 March 2015. * "Galeazzo Ciano – a Summary – History in an Hour." History in an Hour. 10 January 2014. Accessed 25 March 2015. * "Gian Galeazzo Ciano – Comando Supremo." Comando Supremo. 14 February 2010. Accessed 25 March 2015. * {{cite report |title=The Ciano Papers: Rose Garden |first1=Howard McGaw |last1=Smyth |first2=Galeazzo |last2=Ciano |editor1-first=Howard McGaw |editor1-last=Smyth |date=22 September 1993 |url=https://www.cia.gov/static/4cbc5396ab025081275492e46cb28982/The-Ciano-Papers.pdf |language=English |location=Langley, VA |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) |department=CIA Historical Review Program (Center for the Study of Intelligence) |volume=13 |issue=2 |access-date=25 July 2021 |archive-date=19 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119233151/https://www.cia.gov/static/4cbc5396ab025081275492e46cb28982/The-Ciano-Papers.pdf |orig-date=1969 |pages=1–50}} * {{cite thesis |first=Fulvia Maria |last=Caprioli |title=Scritture di gerarchi fascisti: Dal personaggio alla personalità |editor1-first=Pacifico |editor1-last=Cristofanelli |language=it |publisher=Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta (LUMSA) |location=Rome, Italy |via=Tesionline |url=https://www.tesionline.it/tesi/scienze-della-formazione/scritture-di-gerarchi-fascisti-dal-personaggio-alla-personalit%C3%A0/4354 |access-date=27 July 2021 |date=23 March 2012}} {{Refend}}

==External links== * {{PM20|FID=pe/003282}}

{{S-start}} {{s-reg|it}} {{Succession box|title=Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari|before=Costanzo Ciano|after=Fabrizio Ciano|years=1939–1944}} {{S-gov}} {{Succession box|title=Head of the Government Press Office|before=Gaetano Polverelli|after=''None (Office abolished)''<br />{{small|Himself as<br />Undersecretary for Press and Propaganda}}|years=1933–1934}} {{Succession box|title=Undersecretary for Press and Propaganda|before=''None (Office established)''|after=''None (Office abolished)''<br />{{small|Himself as<br />Minister for Press and Propaganda}}|years=1934–1935}} {{Succession box|title=Minister of Press and Propaganda|before=''None (Office established)''|after=Dino Alfieri|years=1935}} {{Succession box|title=Minister of Foreign Affairs|before=Benito Mussolini|after=Benito Mussolini|years=1936–1943}} {{S-end}}

{{Subject bar |auto=y |portal1=Italy |portal2=Biography }} {{Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs}} {{Mussolini Cabinet}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciano, Galeazzo}} Category:1903 births Category:1944 deaths Category:20th-century Italian diplomats Category:20th-century diarists Category:People from Livorno Category:Mussolini family Category:Members of the Grand Council of Fascism Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Italy Category:Mussolini Cabinet Category:Members of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations Category:Politicians from Tuscany Category:Italian diarists Category:Italian Fascist propagandists Category:Italian anti-communist propagandists Category:Ambassadors of Italy to the Holy See Category:Ambassadors of Italy to China Category:Italian civilians killed in World War II Category:Italian people of the Spanish Civil War Category:Italian military personnel of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon Category:Knights of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Category:Verona trial executions Category:Counts in Italy Category:Italian fascists