{{short description|Italian jazz pianist, painter, and film producer (1927–2006)}} {{for|his grandson, a footballer|Romano Floriani Mussolini}} {{Infobox person | name = Romano Mussolini | image = File:Romano_Mussolini.jpg | caption = Mussolini in 1932 | birth_name = Romano Bruno Mussolini | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|9|26|df=y}} | birth_place = Forlì, Italy | death_date = {{death date and age|2006|2|3|1927|9|26|df=y}} | death_place = Rome, Italy | years_active = 1945–2006 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Maria Scicolone|1962|1971|end=div}} * {{ill|Carla M. Puccini|it|Carla Maria Puccini}} }} | children = 3, including Alessandra and Rachele | parents = Benito Mussolini <br>Rachele Mussolini | relatives = Sophia Loren (former sister-in-law)<br/>Romano Floriani Mussolini (grandson) | occupation = {{hlist|Jazz pianist|painter|film producer}} }} '''Romano Bruno Mussolini''' (26 September 1927 – 3 February 2006) was an Italian jazz pianist, painter, and film producer.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/same-name-different-fame/2006/03/17/1142582520356.html?page=2 | newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=Same name, different fame | date=March 18, 2006}}</ref> He was the fourth child and youngest son of Benito Mussolini.
==Early life and education== Romano Mussolini grew up in {{ill|Villa Carpena|it}}, his family's residence in Forlì in Romagna.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Frasca |first1=Simona |last2=Vizzaccaro |first2=Federico |title=Mussolini, Romano |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/romano-mussolini_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |encyclopedia=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani |publisher=Treccani |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240325231302/https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/romano-mussolini_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ |archive-date=25 March 2024 |language=it | volume=77 |date=2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> He studied music as a child, playing classical pieces on the piano and accompanying his father, Benito Mussolini, who played<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chornik |first1=Katia |title=El violìn de Mussolini |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_2159000/2159645.stm |website=BBC Mundo |publisher=BBC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240317051611/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/misc/newsid_2159000/2159645.stm |archive-date=17 March 2024 |language=es |date=29 July 2002 |url-status=live}}</ref> the violin. Following World War II, he started playing jazz under the assumed name "Romano Full".<ref name=Grove>{{Cite Grove |last=Mazzoletti |first=Adriano|author-link=Adriano Mazzoletti |title=Romano Mussolini}}</ref>
== Musical career == His playing style has been described as "like a slightly melancholic Oscar Peterson. Occasionally inspired, he was always efficient; he made the refrains run on time."<ref name="Romano Mussolini 2006">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/05/he-made-the-refrains-run-on-time/4782|title=He made the refrains run on time|first=Mark|last=Steyn|magazine=The Atlantic Monthly|date=May 2006}}</ref>
== Personal life == In 1962, Mussolini married Maria Scicolone, the younger sister of actress Sophia Loren. They had two daughters, Alessandra and her younger sister Elisabetta. Alessandra led a small Italian far-right party often described as neofascist, ''Alternativa Sociale''. Romano Mussolini composed the party's official anthem, "The Pride of Being Italian".<ref name="Romano Mussolini 2006"/>
With his second wife, the actress {{ill|Carla Maria Puccini|it}}, he had a daughter, Rachele Mussolini, named after his mother Rachele Mussolini. The younger Rachele has served as a member of the city council of Rome.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/06/rachele-mussolini-fascist-dictator-s-granddaughter-wins-most-votes-in-rome-s-municipal-ele | title=Rachele Mussolini: Fascist dictator's granddaughter wins most votes in Rome's municipal elections | publisher=Euronews | date=6 October 2021 | accessdate= 6 October 2021}}</ref>
Mussolini was very reserved about his family history until the entry of the post-fascist National Alliance party into government following the 2001 general election.<ref name=Stille2006/> In 2004 he published a broadly sympathetic account of his personal recollections of his father, ''Il Duce, mio padre'' (translated as ''My father, il Duce: a memoir by Mussolini's son'', alluding to the Fascist dictator's official title), including anecdotes of private confidences and discussions.<ref name=Stille2006>{{cite book |title=My father il Duce: a memoir by Mussolini's son |first=Romano |last=Mussolini |contribution=Introductory essay by Alexander Stille|location=San Diego, CA |publisher=Kales Press |year=2006 |isbn=0-9670076-8-2 |quote=Writing the introductory essay to ''My Father Il Duce'' is a bit like writing the warning label on a powerful drug that has its uses but must be taken with care and knowledge of its potential side effects. The greatest benefit, perhaps, is understanding the evasions and self-deceptions of a certain kind of revisionist history and the conscious and unconscious manipulation of memory in learning to accept the unacceptable.}}</ref>
==Death== Romano Mussolini died from heart problems in a hospital in Rome in 2006, aged 78.
==Selected discography== * ''Mirage'' (1974) * ''Soft & Swing'' (1996) * ''The Wonderful World of Louis'' (2001) * ''Timeless Blues'' (2002) * ''Music Blues'' (2002) * ''Romano Piano & Forte'' (2002) * ''Jazz Album'' (2003) * ''Napule 'nu quarto 'e luna'' (2003) * ''Alibi perfetto'' (2004) – soundtrack
==Books== * {{cite book |title=My father il Duce: a memoir by Mussolini's son |first=Romano |last=Mussolini |translator-last1=Stojanovic |translator-first1=Ana |others=Introductory essay by Alexander Stille |location=San Diego, CA |publisher=Kales Press |year=2006 |orig-year=2004 |isbn=0-9670076-8-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/myfatherilduceme00muss |url-access=registration }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4676934.stm Mussolini's jazz pianist son dies] from BBC News *[https://www.allaboutjazz.com/helen-merrill-60-years-of-warm-sweet-songs-helen-merrill-by-joao-moreira-dos-santos Singer Helen Merrill recalls Romano Mussolini] *{{IMDb name|id=0615909|name=Romano Mussolini}} *[http://www.repubblica.it/2006/b/sezioni/spettacoli_e_cultura/mussolini/mussolini/mussolini.html E' morto Romano Mussolini, il figlio jazzista del duce] from La Repubblica {{in lang|it}}
{{Benito Mussolini}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mussolini, Romano}} Category:1927 births Category:2006 deaths Category:People from Forlì Category:20th-century Italian painters Category:Italian male painters Category:21st-century Italian painters Category:Children of prime ministers of Italy Category:Italian jazz pianists Romano Category:20th-century Italian pianists Category:20th-century Italian male artists Category:21st-century Italian male artists Category:Italian male jazz pianists Category:20th-century Italian male pianists