Freemasonry and Fascism. From the Great War to the Banning of the Lodges

After the summer break, the “Third Tuesday of the Month” lecture series resumes, promoted by the cultural association “Manlio Cecovini International Society for the Dissemination of Historical, Social and Ethical Studies”.

The first event of the new season will take place on Tuesday 21 October 2025 at 6:00 PM at Antico Caffè San Marcoin Trieste, featuring historian Fulvio Conti, who will present his latest book Freemasonry and Fascism. From the Great War to the Banning of the Lodges (Carocci, 2025).
Admission is free until seats are filled.

The book reconstructs a crucial and controversial chapter in 20th-century Italian history, offering a critical reading of the relationship between Freemasonry and Fascism—a connection marked by initial ambiguity, false hopes of cooperation, and a dramatic shift in November 1925, when the regime outlawed the lodges, ending any attempt at compromise and marking the beginning of a long moral and political opposition.

Fulvio Conti, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Florence, is one of Italy’s leading scholars on the subject of Freemasonry in the modern age. His previous works include Freemasonry and Civil Religions (Il Mulino, 2008) and The Brothers and the Outsiders: Freemasonry in the Public Sphere (Pacini, 2020).

This event offers a valuable opportunity to explore a lesser-known page of Italian history with scholarly rigour and critical insight, drawing on historical sources and paying close attention to the complexity of the events.