Luigi Barzini, Sr.

Luigi Barzini, Sr. (February 7, 1874 – September 6, 1947) was an Italian journalist, war correspondent and fascist politician.

Work Life
Born at Orvieto, Barzini started his career as a journalist in 1898, working for minor Italian magazines and was almost immediately noticed and hired by Luigi Albertini, then director of the Corriere della Sera, the most prestigious Italian newspaper. In 1900, he was sent as war correspondent to Qing Dynasty China, where he witnessed and reported about the Boxer Rebellion, distinguishing himself for his ability to get first hand information. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, he was embedded within the Imperial Japanese Army, and covered its campaigns in Manchuria.

As a journalist of the Corriere della Sera, in 1907 he accompanied Prince Scipione Borghese in the famous Peking to Paris motor race, winning it after a journey of two months in an Itala car across China and Siberia, traveling amongst regions and people that had never seen a car before. Of this adventure, he left a wonderful memoir, filled with hundreds of photographs, in his book Peking to Paris, that was published in 1908 in eleven different languages: a "publishing raid", as his proud Italian editor noted in the preface of the book.

During World War I, Barzini was the official correspondent with the Italian Army; an account of his experiences was published in The War Illustrated. In the 1920s, Barzini left the Corriere della Sera and moved to the United States, where he directed the Italian-American newspaper Corriere d'America from 1923 to 1931. Returning to Italy, he was director of the Il Mattino.

Barzini had pro-Fascist sentiments, signing his name on the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals in 1925, and had access to highest political circles of Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime; he was made a senator in 1934. He served on the Commission of the Armed Forces (17 April 1939 – 11 February 1941), the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Customs legislation (31 December 1941 – 12 February 1943) (16 June to 5 August 1943), Affairs Committee of Italian Africa (15 April 1942 – 16 June 1943) and the Board of Finance (February 12 to June 16, 1943). During this time, he continued to work as a correspondent for the Fascist newspaper Il Popolo d'Italia, covering the Spanish Civil War and the Russian Invasion. He continued to collaborate with Mussolini in the Italian Social Republic, after Italy had switched sides to the Allies.

Death and Family
Barzini died destitute in Milan in 1947. His son, Luigi Barzini, Jr., was also a journalist and writer.

Works

 * Nell'estremo oriente. Milano, Libreria Editrice Nazionale, 1904
 * Il Giappone in armi. Milano, Libreria Editrice Lombarda, 1906
 * Guerra Russo-Giapponese. La battaglia di Mukden, 1907
 * La metà del mondo vista da un automobile – da Pechino a Parigi in 60 giorni, prima edizione. Milano, Ulrico Hoepli Editore, 1908
 * Scene della grande guerra, 1915
 * Al Fronte, 1915
 * La guerra d'Italia. Sui monti, nel cielo e nel mare, 1916
 * La guerra d'Italia. Dal Trentino al Carso, 1917
 * Impressioni boreali, 1921
 * Dall'impero del Mikado all'impero dello Zar, 1935
 * Sotto la tenda, 1935
 * L'impero del lavoro forzato, Ulrico Hoepli Editore, 1938
 * Evasione in Mongolia, 1939
 * Wu Wang ed altre genti, 1941

Awards

 * Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy, February 17, 1924
 * Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy, April 16, 1925
 * Grand Officer of the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy
 * Knight of the Legion of Honour (France)
 * Croce di Guerra