Fernando Tambroni

Fernando Tambroni Armaroli ( 25 November 1901 – 18 February 1963) was an Italian politician.

Tambroni was born in Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Kingdom of Italy, in 1901.

His father, Arturo Tambroni, was the director of a youth re-educational institute, while her mother Amalia Laurenti was a housewife.

After attending the classical lyceum, he studied law at the University of Macerata, where he graduated few years later.

In those years he became a member of the Italian People's Party (PPI), the Christian-democratic party led by Don Luigi Sturzo, of which he was appointed provincial secretary for Macerata.

He served also as vice president of the Italian Catholic Federation of University Students (FUCI), under the presidency of Giuseppe Spataro.

During the 1920s, he became a rather well-known and appreciated criminal defense lawyer.

Tambroni entered the legal profession in 1923.

He started out in the law firm of Augusto Giardini.

In November 1926, after the dissolution of the PPI imposed by the Fascist regime in Italy, Tambroni published an article on the Corriere Adriatico, in which he declared that he had "abjured [his] previous political ideals" and that he had become uninterested in any activity contrary to the fascist regime.

He described Benito Mussolini as "the man designated by the providence of God".

In 1927, he welcomed his sister Rina, the second female lawyer in Ancona, as a colleague in the firm.

After the war, Rina would take over the running of the firm.

During these years, Tambroni married Mafalda Giacopelli.

Two daughters were born to the couple: Maria Grazia and Gabriella.

The Second World War found Tambroni serving in the Voluntary Militia for National Security (MVSN), commonly known as the Blackshirts, the paramilitary wing of the PNF.

His squad was an anti-aircraft battery in the Ancona area.

After a few years, in 1932, he joined the National Fascist Party (PNF).

Once the regime had fallen, he declared that he had not written the article willingly but had been forced to do so by PNF bosses' threats.

Once the Duce had been overthrown in July 1943, Tambroni left the PNF and did not follow Mussolini in the Italian Social Republic, returning instead to more moderate political activity and contributing in December 1943 to the foundation of Christian Democracy (DC), the new centrist and Catholic party led by Alcide De Gasperi.

Tambroni soon became one of the main DC figures in the Marche region.

In the 1946 Italian general election, he was elected in the Constituent Assembly of Italy for the constituency of Ancona–Pesaro–Macerata–Ascoli Piceno, receiving almost 20,500 votes.

In the Constituent Assembly, he was appointed in the electoral commission and then in the 4th commission for bills' examination.

In the 1948 Italian general election, he was elected in the Chamber of Deputies with more than 45,000 votes.

In these years, he became a vocal critic of De Gasperi's policies, advocating for more incisive social reforms.

Between June 1948 and January 1950, he served as vice-president of the public works commission of the Chamber, therefore, from January 1950 to July 1953, under-secretary of the Merchant Navy in the sixth and seventh governments chaired by Alcide De Gasperi.

In the 1953 Italian general election, the government coalition won 49.9% of national vote, just a few thousand votes of the threshold for a supermajority, resulting in an ordinary proportional distribution of the seats.

Technically, the government won the election, winning a clear working majority of seats in both houses, but frustration with the failure to win a supermajority caused significant tensions in the leading coalition, which ended on 2 August, when De Gasperi was forced to resign by the Parliament.

On 17 August, President Luigi Einaudi appointed Giuseppe Pella as new Prime Minister, while Tambroni became Minister of Merchant Navy.

He also served as Minister of the Interior from July 1955 until February 1959, Minister of Budget and Treasury from February 1959 to March 1960, and Minister of the Merchant Navy from August 1953 until July 1955.

Despite having started his political career as a reformist and supporter of centre-left economic policies, while in government he became a right-wing, conservative politician, implementing law and order policies.

Moreover, he was accused as Interior Minister of having created his own secret police to produce dossiers on his political opponents.

His role as Prime Minister is best remembered for the riots which resulted from the possibility that he might look to the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement for support against the parliamentary left.

He would remain in office until July 1955, serving also in the governments of Amintore Fanfani and Mario Scelba.

As minister, he approved the so-called "Tambroni law", which for the first time attempted to resolve the shipyards situation, with a 10 year concession of tax relief and state aids to encourage the reduction of production costs, promoting their competitiveness in the international market.

In July 1955, the newly appointed Prime Minister, Antonio Segni, selected Tambroni as his Minister of the Interior.

In 1956, he sent a confidential note to all Italian prefects inviting them to produce a report that not only illustrated the political ideals of the population, but also indicated measures that "could be implemented before the 1957 local elections to favorably influence voters, with the aim of starting a more effective fight against communism. He also created an ad hoc office, with some of his close and trusted advisors. Politicians, militants and citizens with leftist sympathies and ideas ended up in these files, but dossiers were also opened on party comrades and politicians close to the DC, to have instruments of conditioning, if not blackmail, other politicians.

Tambroni would remain at the Viminale Palace until February 1959, serving also in the cabinets of Adone Zoli and Amintore Fanfani.

During his ministry, he was accused of using prefects in favor of the political interest of the government and his party.

A member of Christian Democracy, he served as the 36th Prime Minister of Italy from March to July 1960.