Born at Melfi, Basilicata, Francesco Nitti studied law in Naples and was subsequently active as journalist. He was correspondent for the Gazzetta piemontese and was one of the editors of the Corriere di Napoli. In 1891 he wrote the workIl socialismo cattolico. In 1898, when only 30 years old, he became professor of finance at the University of Naples. Nitti was chosen in 1904 for the Radical Party to serve in the Italian parliament. From 1911 to 1914 he was minister of agriculture, industry and trade under prime ministerGiovanni Giolitti. In 1917 he became minister of finance under Orlando; this latter post he held till 1919. On 23 June 1919 Nitti became prime minister and interior minister. A year later he added to these roles the job of minister of the colonies. His cabinet had to deal with great social unrest and dissatisfaction over the results of the Treaty of Versailles. Particularly troublesome was the agitation over Fiume led by Gabriele D'Annunzio. Nitti had great difficulty keeping the administration functioning at all, thanks to the enmity between the extremely divergent political factions: the communists, anarchists and fascists. After less than a year as head of government, he resigned, and was succeeded by the veteran Giolitti on 16 June 1920. In social policy, Nitti’s government passed a law setting up compulsory insurance for unemployment, invalidity, and old age. Still a member of the Italian parliament, Nitti offered resistance to the nascent power of fascism, and openly despised Benito Mussolini. In his 1927 book entitled Bolshevism, Fascism and Democracy, he correlated Italian Fascism with communism, writing: “There is little difference between the two, and in certain respects, Fascism and Bolshevism are the same.” In 1924 Nitti decided to emigrate, but after the Second World War he returned to Italy. He was elected to the Senate, first for the Italian Liberal Party in National Bloc and late for the Independent Left. As a secular and anti-clerical, was an opposer of Christian Democracy. To Italy's NATO membership he remained staunchly opposed. In Rome on 20 February 1953, Nitti died. Throughout his career he deplored any kind of dictatorship, whether it was communist or fascist.
