Ettore Muti

Ettore Muti (2 May 1902 – 24 August 1943) was an Italian aviator and Fascist politician. He was party secretary of the National Fascist Party (Partito Nazionale Fascista, or PNF) from October 1939 until shortly after the entry of Italy into World War II on 10 June 1940. World War I and Fiume Born in Ravenna, Romagna, Muti was banned from any school in the country at age 13, after punching one of his teachers. The next year, he ran away from home in order to fight in World War I, but was recovered and returned by the Carabinieri. At 15, a new attempt was successful, and Muti joined the famed Arditi. On the front, Muti distinguished himself through feats of audacity. His detachment of 800 men was ordered to establish a bridgehead under enemy fire: it managed to do so, but was only left with 23 members at the end of the day. Gabriele D'Annunzio benefited from Muti's services during his seizing of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia) in September 1919–January 1921; he gave Muti the lasting moniker Gim dagli occhi verdi ("Green-Eyed Jim"). In fact, Muti was rarely involved in fighting over Fiume, being more likely to engage in flamboyant stunts. D'Annunzio told Muti: "You are the expression of Superhuman values, a weightless impetus, a boundless offering, a fistful of incense over the embers, the scent of a pure soul". Between the world wars