# Zenone Benini
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{{Short description|Italian Fascist politician (1902–1976)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Zenone Benini
| image = Zenone benini 1.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| office = [Minister of Public Works](/source/Minister_of_Public_Works_(Italy)) of the [Kingdom of Italy](/source/Kingdom_of_Italy)
| term_start = 6 February 1943
| term_end = 25 July 1943
| predecessor = [Giuseppe Gorla](/source/Giuseppe_Gorla)
| successor = [Domenico Romano](/source/Domenico_Romano)
| office2 = Undersecretary for Albanian Affairs of the Kingdom of Italy
| term_start2 = 18 April 1939
| term_end2 = 31 July 1941
| predecessor2 = ''office created''
| successor2 = ''office abolished''
| office3 = Member of the [Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy](/source/Chamber_of_Deputies_of_the_Kingdom_of_Italy)
| term_start3 = 28 April 1934
| term_end3 = 2 March 1939
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| office4 = Member of the [Chamber of Fasces and Corporations](/source/Chamber_of_Fasces_and_Corporations)
| term_start4 = 23 March 1939
| term_end4 = 5 August 1943
| predecessor4 =
| successor4 =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|10|19|df=y}}
| birth_place = [Campiglia Marittima](/source/Campiglia_Marittima), [Kingdom of Italy](/source/Kingdom_of_Italy)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1976|9|10|1902|10|19|df=y}}
| death_place = [Florence](/source/Florence), [Italy](/source/Italy)
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| citizenship =
| party = [National Fascist Party](/source/National_Fascist_Party)
| other_party =
| awards = [Order of the Crown of Italy](/source/Order_of_the_Crown_of_Italy)
[Colonial Order of the Star of Italy](/source/Colonial_Order_of_the_Star_of_Italy)
[Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus](/source/Order_of_Saints_Maurice_and_Lazarus)
}}
'''Zenone Benini''' (19 October 1902 – 10 September 1976) was an Italian industrialist and [Fascist](/source/Fascist) politician who served as the last [minister of public works](/source/Minister_of_Public_Works_(Italy)) of the [Mussolini Cabinet](/source/Mussolini_Cabinet).
==Biography==
Benini was born into a rich family of the Florentine bourgeoisie which owned a villa in the countryside, a [straw hat](/source/straw_hat) factory and a metallurgical factory, the Pignone, located in [Florence](/source/Florence).[[https://www.toscananovecento.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Famiglia-Benini.pdf La famiglia Benini: cinque generazioni alla Fonderia del Pignone]] He spent his early years in Florence but attended high school in [Livorno](/source/Livorno), where he met [Galeazzo Ciano](/source/Galeazzo_Ciano), with whom he developed a lifelong friendship.[[https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/vincenzo-fagiuoli_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/ Fagiuoli, Vincenzo]] During the [First World War](/source/First_World_War) the family business increased its profits (the Pignone also produced armaments) and Benini became acquainted with war hero [Costanzo Ciano](/source/Costanzo_Ciano), the father of his new friend. After the war he joined the [National Fascist Party](/source/National_Fascist_Party) and during the [Fascist period](/source/Fascist_Era) he became vice president of the Italian Corporation for the Iron and Steel Industry and president of the Union of Florentine Industrialists, while also taking the helm of the family business and sitting in the board of directors of companies such as [SNIA Viscosa](/source/SNIA_Viscosa), [Breda](/source/Societ%C3%A0_Italiana_Ernesto_Breda) and [La Fondiaria](/source/Fondiaria-Sai).[ In 1927 he obtained a degree in [mathematics](/source/mathematics).][
In 1934 he became a member of the [Italian Chamber of Deputies](/source/Italian_Chamber_of_Deputies), and in the following year he volunteered for the [Second Italo-Ethiopian War](/source/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War), strengthening his ties with high-ranking Fascists such as Ciano and [Alessandro Pavolini](/source/Alessandro_Pavolini).][[https://books.google.com/books?id=2ONtEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22zenone+benini%22+pignone&pg=PP141 Adriano Olivetti, un italiano del Novecento]][[https://media.fupress.com/files/pdf/24/2856/2856_23105 Firenze in guerra, 1940-1944]][[https://storia.camera.it/deputato/zenone-benini-19021019 Camera dei Deputati]] In 1939 he became a member of the [Chamber of Fasces and Corporations](/source/Chamber_of_Fasces_and_Corporations).[[http://dati.camera.it/ocd/deputato.rdf/dr10630_29 Zenone Benini, legislatura XXIX del Regno]][[https://www.academia.edu/37607185/Il_programma_economico_del_Sottosegretariato_Affari_Albanesi_in_Albania_Fascista_ Il programma economico del Sottosegretariato Affari Albanesi]][[https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/galeazzo-ciano_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/ Ciano, Galeazzo]][[https://iris.uniroma1.it/retrieve/handle/11573/927337/338273/Sakja_Cosi-vicina_2016.pdf Così vicina, così lontana: visioni fasciste dello sviluppo dell’Albania negli anni Quaranta]][{{cite book|author=Francesca Calace| title="Restituiamo la Storia" – dagli archivi ai territori: Architetture e modelli urbani nel Mediterraneo orientale|publisher=Gangemi Editore| year=2016|isbn=978-88-492-9514-6|url=https://books.google/books?id=BnpqCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44|language=it| page=44}}][[https://journals.openedition.org/diacronie/6211 L’Albania fascista (1939-1943)]]
Following the outbreak of the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) he showed himself inclined towards neutrality, and for this reason he gradually lost the confidence of [Mussolini](/source/Mussolini), who in June 1941 dissolved his Undersecretariat. His political career apparently over, Benini returned to Florence to take care of the Pignone, but in February 1943 he was recalled by the Duce and appointed [Minister of Public Works](/source/Minister_of_Public_Works_(Italy)), a post he held until the [fall of the regime](/source/Fall_of_Fascism) on 25 July 1943.[[https://books.google.com/books?id=y8ZUDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22zenone+benini%22+ministro&pg=PT143 25 luglio 1943]][[https://www.sergiolepri.it/1943_htm/050743.htm 5 luglio]]
In November 1943, fearing reprisals against his family, he surrendered himself to the prefect of [Grosseto](/source/Grosseto), [Alceo Ercolani](/source/Alceo_Ercolani); from there he was transferred first to the Murate prison in Florence and then to the Scalzi prison in [Verona](/source/Verona), where he met again Galeazzo Ciano, who was awaiting trial together with the other "traitors of 25 July".[{{Cite web |url=https://storico.cgilfirenze.it/2004stampa/pignone.html |title=CGIL Firenze |access-date=20 September 2022 |archive-date=19 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619005908/https://storico.cgilfirenze.it/2004stampa/pignone.html |url-status=dead }}] Benini was not charged in the trial, as he had not attended the Grand Council of Fascism that had voted for the end of the regime, had voluntarily surrendered to the RSI authorities and was considered a "small fish". He was thus released on 29 January 1944, also thanks to the help of his friend Pavolini, and returned to the Tuscan capital, where he later wrote a memoir about his imprisonment, ''Vigilia a Verona'', which was published in 1949.[[https://media.fupress.com/files/pdf/24/2856/2856_23105 Firenze in guerra 1940-1944]] In the following years, having lost control of the family business, which had been sold to the [ENI group](/source/Eni), he graduated in [engineering](/source/engineering), cultivated the hobby of [gastronomy](/source/gastronomy) (he also wrote a recipe book in 1966, ''La cucina di casa mia'') and taught mathematics in the schools of [Castiglione della Pescaia](/source/Castiglione_della_Pescaia), where he died at age 74 in 1976.[[https://www.guidotommasi.it/guido-tommasi-editore/autori/zenone-benini La cucina di casa mia]][[https://books.google.com/books?id=48LODwAAQBAJ&dq=%22zenone+benini%22+pignone&pg=PT100 Le requisizioni di Giorgio La Pira. Analisi storico-giuridica]]