Carmelo Borg Pisani
Carmelo Borg Pisani | |
---|---|
Execution by hanging | |
Espionage activity | |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service branch | SIM |
Service years | 1941–1942 |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Carmelo_Borg_Pisani%2C_23Nov1942_warrant_for_execution.jpg/220px-Carmelo_Borg_Pisani%2C_23Nov1942_warrant_for_execution.jpg)
Carmelo Borg Pisani (10 August 1915
Early life
Born into a
He moved to Italy to attend the
Borg Pisani was a supporter of fascism. In 1935, he unsuccessfully tried to embark as a volunteer for the fascist war in Ethiopia.[6]
Between 1939 and 1940, he joined the
During World War II
After the entry of Italy into the Second World War on 10 June 1940, Borg Pisani renounced his British citizenship, returning his British passport through the American embassy (which represented British interests in Rome). Yet he never formally requested nor obtained Italian citizenship, despite later serving in the Italian army.[7]
He also wrote a letter to Mussolini to volunteer for service, but was refused by the
Together with other Maltese irredentists he then attended the military school of Messina.[10][11]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Carmelo_Borg_Pisani_executed%2C_Times_of_Malta_29_Nov_1942_%28excerpt%29.jpg/220px-Carmelo_Borg_Pisani_executed%2C_Times_of_Malta_29_Nov_1942_%28excerpt%29.jpg)
On 18 May 1942, Borg Pisani volunteered for an
There, Borg Pisani was recognized by one of his childhood friends, Cpt. Tom Warrington, who denounced him. British Intelligence kept him under arrest in a house in
According to Mark Harwood, Borg Pisani might have been betrayed by the Italian Fascists themselves, who by sending him alone on an espionage mission to Malta (where he was very likely to be captured and executed) could have been looking for a propaganda coup against the British with the Maltese population at the height of the war — but the plan did not work.[14] Frank Leighton considered him "a gullible victim of fascist Italy's propaganda".[15]
Legacy
After his death, inside his own jail was found written by him: "I vili ed i servi non sono graditi al Signore" (The cowards and the servants are not esteemed by the Lord). These "last words" have been taken up by many of his supporters. In Italy, Borg Pisani was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor, the highest Italian military award, by King Victor Emmanuel III a few days after his death.[16]
Benito Mussolini called him a "Maltese Martyr" and in November 1943 created in his honour in Liguria the blackshirts Battaglione Borg Pisani in which other Maltese irredentists fought.[17]
The art academy where he had studied in Rome was for a brief time rechristened La Regia Accademia di Belle Arti Borg Pisani, and streets in Rome, Turin, Bari and Legnano are still named after him. A neo-fascist group commemorated his death in front of Malta's embassy in Rome in 2010.[12]
Italian historian Giulio Vignoli wrote that Borg Pisani is to be considered one of the last Italian "
Requests have been made by his family and the Italian government to exhume his body and give it a burial outside prison grounds, but so far not acceded to.In Malta, Norman Lowell, the leader of the far-right political party Imperium Europa, is known to be a staunch admirer of Borg Pisani. He is known for the quotes "Carmelo Borg Pisani, presente!" and "Onore a Carmelo Borg Pisani!" during a tribute to him in an interview on One.[19]
A person similar to Pisani appears in the 1953 film, Malta Story.
Notes
- ^ a b c Some sources claim that Borg Pisani was born on 10 August 1914[1] and there are primary sources which state that he was 28 years old in 1942, indicating that he was born in 1914.[2] However, other sources give his date of birth as 10 August 1915,[3] and this is confirmed by primary sources such as his 1932 passport application.
References
- ISBN 9789993291329.
- ^ "The case of Carmelo Borg Pisani". Flickr. National Archives of Malta. 19 November 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- ^ Direzione generale per la antichità e belle arti (1942). Le Arti, Volume 5. F. Le Monnier. p. 236.
- ^ ISBN 9780810873902.
- ^ Stefano Fabei, Carmelo Borg Pisani, 1915-1942, eroe o traditore?, Lo Scarabeo, Bologna, 2007, p. 19.
- ^ Stefano Fabei, Carmelo Borg Pisani, 1915-1942, eroe o traditore?, Lo Scarabeo, Bologna, 2007, p. 20.
- ^ a b De Lorenzo, Giuseppe (1 May 2016). "Carmelo Borg Pisani, eroe di guerra: ma l'Italia non gli dà sepoltura". il Giornale.
- ISBN 9788842816041.
- ^ Stefano Fabei, Carmelo Borg Pisani, 1915-1942, eroe o traditore?, Lo Scarabeo, Bologna, 2007, p. 59.
- ^ Among whom: Carmelo Borg Pisani, Antonio Cortis, Paolo Frendo, Ivo Leone Ganado, Roberto Mallia, figlio del consigliere nazionale, Manoel Mizzi, Antonio Vassallo, Joe d’Ancona & Carlo Liberto.
- ^ CARMELO BORG PISANI E I FASCISTI MALTESI, ISSES
- ^ a b The Independent, Italian Group commemorates Carmelo Borg Pisani’s hanging
- ^ a b The Santa Marija Convoy: Faith and Endurance in Wartime Malta, 1940–1942
- ^ Times of Malta
- ^ Frayed Lifelines: A Siege Survivor's Story, By Frank Leighton
- ^ Italian Republic official list and motivation
- ^ Italian Blackshirt 1935–45 By Pier Paolo Battistelli, Piero Crociani
- ^ Giulio Vignoli. "Gli Italiani dimenticati. Minoranze italiane in Europa". Section: Malta
- ^ "Norman Lowell's tribute to Carmelo Borg Pisani". YouTube. 2007-02-07. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
Bibliography
- Mizzi, L. (1981). Per il sogno della sua vita. Rome: Volpe ed.
- Vignoli, G. (2000). Gli Italiani dimenticati. Minoranze italiane in Europa. Milan: Giuffré ed. ISBN 881408145X.
- Mizzi, L. (2003). Il-Kaz Borg Pisani. Sittin sena Wara. Valletta: PEG publications.
- Fabei, S. (2007). Carmelo Borg Pisani (1915-1942): eroe o traditore?. Bologna: Lo Scarabeo ed. ISBN 978-8884781031.
Further reading
- Rudolf, Uwe Jens; Berg, Warren G. (2010). Historical Dictionary of Malta. Scarecrow Press. pp. 44–45. ISBN 9780810873902.
External links
- A hero and a martyr or a spy and a traitor – who was Carmelo Borg Pisani?, TVM, December 2018
- "Medaglia d'oro al Valor Militare alla memoria" awarded to him after his death (with photo of Carmelo Borg Pisani). (in Italian)
Media related to Carmelo Borg Pisani at Wikimedia Commons