Licio Gelli facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Licio Gelli
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| Born | April 21, 1919 |
| Died | December 15, 2015 (aged 96) Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy
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| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | Financier, freemason, politics |
| Organization | Propaganda Due (until 1982) |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Political party | National Fascist Party (1939–1943) Republican Fascist Party (1943–1945) |
| Spouse(s) |
Wanda Vannacci
(m. 1944; died 1993)Gabriela Vasile
(m. 2006) |
| Children | Raffaello (b. 1947) Maria Rosa (b. 1956) Maurizio (b. 1959) |
Licio Gelli (born April 21, 1919 – died December 15, 2015) was an Italian businessman and financier. When he was young, he was a volunteer for the Fascist movement. He became widely known for his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, a major financial event. In 1981, it was revealed that he was the leader of a secret Masonic lodge called Propaganda Due (P2).
Contents
Early Life and Military Service
Licio Gelli was born in Pistoia, a city in Tuscany, Italy. When he was just 17, he was expelled from all schools in Italy. He then volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War with Fascist groups that supported Generalissimo Franco. His older brother, Raffaello, died in this conflict. Gelli was the youngest person in his group and was even honored by Franco himself.
Gelli also joined the Blackshirts, who were special forces sent by Italian leader Benito Mussolini to support Franco. He worked as a connection officer between the Italian government and Nazi Germany. He also took part in the Italian Social Republic, a state created in northern Italy during World War II. After the war, he worked selling mattresses before starting his own textile and import business.
Connections in Argentina
In 1970, Licio Gelli was involved in a failed plan to overthrow the Italian government, known as the Golpe Borghese. His job was to arrest the Italian President. As the leader of the secret P2 lodge, Gelli had strong connections with important people in Italy and other countries, especially in Argentina. He lived there for many years while avoiding arrest.
Gelli became friends with Juan Perón, who was the President of Argentina. Perón even gave Gelli an important award and made him an honorary economic advisor for Argentina in Italy. Gelli claimed he introduced Perón to Masonry, a secret society. Gelli also became a main financial advisor for Isabel Perón, Juan Perón's wife and successor, and her close aide, José López Rega.
Gelli was given a special diplomatic role at the Argentine embassy in Italy, which gave him diplomatic immunity. This meant he was protected from certain laws. He was accused of faking official documents in Argentina. During the 1970s, Gelli helped arrange oil and weapons deals between Libya, Italy, and Argentina. Several members of Argentina's military government were also part of Gelli's P2 lodge.
Allegations of CIA Involvement
In 1981, Gelli was one of the few Italians invited to President Ronald Reagan's inauguration in the United States. Later, in 1990, a TV report in Italy claimed that the CIA (a US intelligence agency) had paid Gelli to cause problems in Italy. This report also suggested the CIA was involved in the death of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. However, the CIA officially denied these claims. Investigations later found that the main witness in the report, Richard Brenneke, was not a former CIA agent. In 2020, Swedish police closed their investigation into Olof Palme's death, blaming a Swedish graphic designer, not the CIA.
The P2 Scandal and Its Impact
Licio Gelli's troubles began with the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, a huge banking crisis. On March 17, 1981, police searched his home in Arezzo, Italy. There, they found a list of 962 people who were part of his secret P2 lodge. This list included many Italian military officers and government officials, even the heads of Italy's three secret service agencies.
The P2 lodge was a secret group that had been removed from the main Masonic organization in Italy. Future Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was also on the list, though he had not yet entered politics. At the time, he was known for owning a TV channel.
A special committee in the Italian Parliament investigated P2. They found no evidence of crimes, but in 1981, the Italian parliament passed a law banning secret associations. Gelli was officially removed from Freemasonry. The P2 scandal caused the Italian government, led by Prime Minister Arnaldo Forlani, to fall in June 1981.
Many important people in Italy were linked to P2, including famous TV personalities and bankers. One banker, Michele Sindona, who had connections to the Mafia, was also a P2 member. Sindona was involved in the collapse of a bank in New York and was later found guilty in the US.
After the P2 list was found, Gelli escaped to Switzerland. He was arrested in Geneva in 1982 while trying to take out millions of dollars. He was held in a prison but managed to escape and fled to South America for four years. He eventually surrendered in Switzerland in 1987. He was wanted for his role in the 1982 collapse of Banco Ambrosiano and for charges related to a tragic bombing event at the Bologna train station in 1980.
Return to Italy and Legal Cases
Switzerland agreed to send Gelli back to Italy, but only for financial charges related to the Banco Ambrosiano collapse. His return in February 1988 was a major security operation, involving many police officers and armored cars. In Italy, he was cleared of some serious charges but was given a prison sentence for misleading the investigation into the Bologna bombing. However, because of the rules of his extradition, he could not serve that time.
In 1992, Gelli was sentenced to 18 and a half years in prison for fraud related to the Banco Ambrosiano collapse, which had a "black hole" of $1.4 billion. The Vatican bank, a major shareholder, also lost a lot of money. His sentence was later reduced to 12 years. In 1994, Gelli received a 17-year sentence for revealing state secrets and slandering the investigation. This sentence was also reduced, and he was placed under house arrest two years later.
In April 1998, a high court confirmed his 12-year sentence for the Ambrosiano banking crisis. Gelli then disappeared in May 1998 while under house arrest at his home near Arezzo. Many suspected he had help escaping. He was finally arrested in Cannes, France. Police later found $2 million worth of gold bars in Gelli's villa.
Years after the Ambrosiano scandal, many people suspected Gelli was involved in the death of Milanese banker Roberto Calvi, who was known as "God's banker." Calvi had been jailed after the Banco Ambrosiano collapse. In 2005, Gelli was formally accused of Calvi's death, along with others. Gelli claimed that people connected to Calvi's work in financing the Polish Solidarity movement (a trade union) were responsible. He was accused of causing Calvi's death to punish him for taking money owed to Gelli and the Mafia. The Mafia also wanted to stop Calvi from revealing how the bank was used for money laundering. However, Gelli's name was not in the final accusations at the trial that began in 2005, and others accused were found not guilty due to "insufficient evidence." Later, in 2009, the case against Gelli was dropped due to a lack of evidence.
Later Years
In 1996, Licio Gelli was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was supported by famous figures like Mother Teresa and Naguib Mahfouz.
Gelli often spoke about Italian politicians. He claimed that some of the reforms proposed by Silvio Berlusconi, another former P2 member and later Prime Minister, were part of his own original plans. He also approved of Berlusconi's changes to television networks.
Licio Gelli died on December 15, 2015, in Arezzo, at the age of 96. His funeral was held in Pistoia, his hometown. After his death, a will was published where he named a Romanian general as his only "spiritual heir."
See also
In Spanish: Licio Gelli para niños
- Dirty War
- Hands of Perón
