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Il Centro

9 dicembre 2005, pag. 33, Spettacolo

In un libro la storia dell’avvocato che creò la Brigata Maiella
Milano 1947, «La guerra di Troilo» IBS.IT Internet Bookshop )

A mezzanotte del 27 novembre 1947, il ministro dell’Interno, Mario Scelba, trasmise all’Ansa un comunicato: «Su proposta del ministro dell’Interno il consiglio dei ministri ha deliberato il seguente movimento dei prefetti: avvocato Ettore Troilo, a sua domanda, da Milano a disposizione per nuovo incarico». Per protestare contro la destituzione del prefetto abruzzese Ettore Troilo, migliaia di partigiani e operai occuparono la prefettura milanese. C’è una doppia vicenda legata al nome dell’avvocato Ettore Troilo, nato a Torricella Peligna nel 1898: quella del comandante partigiano che nel 1943 aveva costituito in Abruzzo la Brigata Maiella, la sola formazione decorata con la medaglia d’oro al valor civile; e quella del prefetto politico di Milano dal gennaio del 1946 al novembre del 1947. La storia della Brigata Maiella è stata ricostruita in un libro dal figlio maggiore di Ettore, Nicola Troilo. L’avventura della prefettura milanese è da poco in libreria e porta la firma del figlio minore dell’avvocato abruzzese: «La guerra di Troilo» (Rubbettino, 283 pagine, 17 euro) di Carlo Troilo. Secondo il volere del padre, che del periodo milanese aveva lasciato scritta una scaletta di circa 40 pagine, Carlo Troilo ha ricostruito la vicenda che inizia nel 1946. Nel gennaio di quell’anno Ettore Troilo, volontario nella prima guerra, avvocato e socialista (era stato collaboratore di Filippo Turati), viene nominato prefetto politico di Milano su proposta del ministro dell’Interno, Romita. La situazione a Milano è difficilissima. La città deve essere ricostruita e riorganizzata, sono gravi i problemi dell’ordine pubblico e della disoccupazione, la città è insicura, la giustizia è sommaria e le opposte fazioni politiche si scontrano. Ettore Troilo è un prefetto politico, cioè designato dal Comitato di liberazione nazionale e, a differenza di quelli di carriera, può godere di più autonomia. Nel 1946, Ettore Troilo, stimato e apprezzato dai milanesi e soprattutto dal sindaco Antonio Greppi, riesce a fronteggiare i principali problemi legati all’alimentazione e alla crisi delle industrie, instaura colloqui diretti con il presidente del consiglio De Gasperi e riesce a far rinascere alcuni simboli della città. Il 12 maggio con il concerto di Toscanini riapre la Scala e più in là riaprirà il Museo di Brera. Il 1947, per il prefetto Ettore Troilo, non è un anno più semplice. Continuano gli scontri politici e i socialisti perdono il ministero dell’Interno assegnato a Mario Scelba che riapre la diatriba tra prefetti politici e di carriera. «E’ chiaro che Scelba», si legge nel libro di Carlo Troilo, «vuole prefetti che siano esecutori degli ordini del ministro e non può accettare che proprio a Milano, nella provincia più importante d’Italia, vi sia un prefetto partigiano con una forte tendenza all’autonomia decisionale». A pochi mesi dalle elezioni dell’aprile del 1948, il ministro dell’Interno vuole chiudere il capitolo dei prefetti politici e con le poche righe del comunicato stampa, Scelba destituirà dal suo incarico Ettore Troilo. La reazione di Milano all’immotivato provvedimento, fin dall’alba del 28 novembre, sfiora l’insurrezione: Giancarlo Pajetta, allora segretario regionale del Pci, guida la protesta degli esponenti socialisti e dei capi della resistenza che occuparono la prefettura. A catena, si dimisero per protesta 156 sindaci della Lombardia compreso il sindaco Antonio Greppi di Milano, mentre partigiani partirono da Genova e Torino. Anche la stampa nazionale, che aveva seguito la vicenda fin dall’inizio, si schierò dalla parte di Troilo ricordandone le doti e il lavoro svolto a Milano. «Dire Troilo», scrisse l’Avanti, «è dire una particolare politica trapunta di attenzioni per gli interessi dell’amministrazione comunale, delle masse popolari, della industrie e dei commerci. Una politica che non può essere interrotta da un goffo comunicato». Con spirito di sacrificio Ettore Troilo quasi subì l’occupazione salvando Milano da scontri che avrebbero avuto ripercussioni a livello nazionale. Così Carlo Troilo, in un libro ricco di documenti inediti, ha ridato luce alla vicenda del prefetto abruzzese che il Corriere della Sera titolò «La guerra di Troilo». Paola Aurisicchio

Il Centro

9th December 2005, page 33, Spectacle

In a Book, the Story of the Lawyer who Created the Brigata Maiella (the Maiella Brigade).
Milan, 1947, Troilo’s War (IBS.IT Internet Bookshop )

At midnight on 27th November 1947, the Minister of the Interior, Mario Scelba, sent a communiqué to Ansa[1]: “The following movement of Prefects was proposed by the Minister of the Interior and has been deliberated upon by the Council of Ministers: the lawyer, Ettore Troilo, at his own request, be sent from Milan to be available for another appointment”. To protest against the dismissal of the Abruzzan Prefect, Ettore Troilo, thousands of partisans and workers occupied the Prefect’s Office in Milan. There are two events linked to the name of Ettore Troilo, who was born in Torricella Peligna in 1898: he was a Commandant of the Partisans and formed the Brigata Maiella in Abruzzo in 1943, which was the only group to receive the Gold Medal for Civic Valour; and he was the political Prefect of Milan from January 1946 until November 1947. The story of the Brigata Maiella has been pieced together in a book by Ettore’s older son, Nicola Troilo.
The story about the Prefect’s Office in Milan was recently published in a book by the Abruzzan lawyer’s younger son, Carlo Troilo, called “Troilo’s War” “La Guerra di Troilo” (Rubbettino, 283 pages, 17 euros). Following his father’s wishes and using 40 pages of his father’s notes written during the period in Milan, Carlo Troilo has put together the events which began in 1946. In the January of that year Ettore Troilo, who had been a volunteer in the First World War, a lawyer and a socialist (he had been a colleague of Filippo Turati[2]), was nominated as political Prefect of Milan by Romita, then Minister of the Interior. The situation in Milan was extremely difficult. The city needed to be rebuilt and reorganised, there were serious problems with public order and unemployment, the city was insecure, there was summary justice and the opposing political factions were at war with each other. Ettore Troilo was a political Prefect, in that he had been appointed by the National Liberation Committee and, as distinct form career Prefects, he was able to be more autonomous. In 1946 Ettore Troilo, esteemed and appreciated by the Milanese people and especially by the Mayor, Antonio Greppi, managed to cope with the main problems linked to alimentation and the industrial crises, he set up direct discussions with the Council’s President, De Gaspari, and he succeeded in re-establishing certain symbols of the city. On 12th May he reopened La Scala with a concert by Toscannini and later he reopened the Brera Museum[3]. 1947 was not the simplest of years for the Prefect, Ettore Troilo. There were continual political battles and the Socialists lost the Minister for the Interior, Mario Scelba, who reopened the diatribe between political and career Prefects. In his book, Carlo Troilo says, “It is clear that Scelba wanted Prefects who followed the orders of the Minister and he was unwilling to accept, especially in Milan, the most important province of Italy, that there could be a partisan Prefect with strongly autonomous decision making tendencies”. A few months before the April 1948 elections, the Minister for the Interior wanted to close the chapter on political Prefects and with the few lines of a printed communiqué, Scelba dismissed Ettore Troilo from his position. The reaction in Milan to this unprovoked measure, led to the insurrection which started at dawn on 28th November: Giancarlo Pajetta, then Regional Secretary of the PCI[4], led the protest of socialists and heads of the resistance who occupied the Prefect’s Office. In a chain reaction, 156 Mayors throughout Lombardy, including Antonio Greppi, Mayor of Milan, also resigned in protest, whilst partisans departed from Genoa and Turin [heading for Milan]. Even the National Press, which had been following the affair since it had first started, took Troilo’s side, in recognition both of his skills and the works he had performed in Milan. The newspaper l’Avanti wrote, “To say Troilo is to talk about a special type of politics, involving a close attention, like a patchwork quilt, to the many and various interested parties, such as the Town Hall Administration, the popular masses, industry and commerce. Politics that cannot be interrupted by a clumsy communiqué.” In a spirit of sacrifice, Ettore Troilo endured the occupation, saving Milan from the repercussions of any conflict that might have taken place at a National level. Thus, in his book rich in previously unpublished documents, Carlo Troilo has brought to light again the events surrounding the Abruzzan Prefect which the Corriere della Sera newspaper entitled “Troilo’s War”.
Paola Aurisicchio.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES:

[1] Ansa – the main agency of the Italian press = Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA)

[2] Filippo Turati, 1857–1932, Italian political leader. An advocate of a moderate, non-violent form of socialism, Turati co-founded the Italian Socialist party in 1892. In 1926, threatened by the growing fascist movement, he fled the country, escaping in a small boat to Corsica. From there, he travelled to Paris, where he spent the remainder of his life as the head of an antifascist coalition.

[3] Pinacoteca di Brera
Milan's most outstanding museum, Brera is recognized as one of the major art collections in the world. It was initially founded by the Hapsburgs in the late 18th century, as a small collection of paintings, sculptures and plaster copies to be used by the Accademia's student
body. Its patrimony came from churches and the estates of Catholic clerical orders that had been suppressed not long before (the building which housed the Accademia had formerly been the Milanese headquarters of the Jesuit order). The art collection was dramatically enlarged during the Napoleonic era between 1799-1815, when it received an extraordinary number of art works confiscated from all over the North of
Italy. This was a direct consequence of Napoleon's policy towards the city. In Napoleon's view, Milan was destined to become a capital, albeit subject to Paris, and therefore needed to consolidate a conspicuous art collection of its own. Literally thousands of paintings were therefore indiscriminately confiscated from churches and private collections in all of the French-occupied Northern-Italian regions: Lombardy, Veneto (and of course Venice), a large chunk of Emilia Romagna and the Marche. In 1809 the great new museum opened its doors to the public.
It goes without saying that the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte did not bring with it the return of the masterpieces to their places of origin; this was also thanks to the idea - then coming to the fore - that a museum should perform the function of a centralized collection, of benefit to the whole community. The Brera Gallery was thus the undisputed beneficiary of a fabulous and unique artistic patrimony.
In 1882 the Pinacoteca was officially separated from the Accademia and thus became, to all effects and purposes, one of the Italian State's main art museums.
This role has not necessarily helped Brera. After WW2, for instance, intense conflicts arose between the State, the superintendents of this State-owned gallery, the civic administrators and the Church. As a result, the chronic need for new space to provide for better placement of the material stored still awaits a satisfactory solution. And there's another problem. Although Brera now has many paintings that did not originally belong in Milan, many of Brera's paintings are no longer on its premises (exhibited or in storage): they are on compulsory loan elsewhere, in the most varied locations - in other museums and churches, or in Italian Embassies abroad - often in places which have no relation whatsoever to the paintings' places of origin.

[4] PCI - Partito Comunista d'Italia or Communist Party of Italy