An unusual account comes from Benito Mussolini's granddaughter, Alessandra Mussolini, in an exclusive interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The former MP and well-known public figure has shared for the first time intimate details from the life of her grandmother, Rachele Mussolini, the wife of the fascist dictator of Italy.
The most surprising part of the interview is undoubtedly the revelation of an affair that, according to Alessandra, not only did not destroy the marriage, but made it stronger.
"Rachele was not a submissive woman. She didn't do this for revenge, but to win back her husband," Alessandra says.
"The betrayal brought them together as equals. He realized that she had the strength to live without him. This brought them closer together."
According to her account, Rachele had had a secret affair with Corrado Varoli – an early love from her youth. A dramatic event occurred when Mussolini returned home unannounced. After a coded signal warning of his arrival, Varoli was forced to hide in a closet to avoid a dangerous confrontation.
"The grandfather came with a gun. He had understood everything. But nothing happened. They passed him by, silenced him, and he moved on," says Alessandra.
She adds that the story was not an act of rebellion, but an attempt to restore a relationship shaken by the betrayals and shortcomings of the Duce himself.
"Rachele didn't act out of revenge. She wanted to understand the feeling he was constantly experiencing. It was her way of balancing the marriage."
The story comes as part of the promotion of her autobiographical book "Benito. Roses and Thorns", where Alessandra tries to give a deeper and more human insight into the figure of her grandmother - far from the usual image of a silent woman who lived in the shadow of a powerful and frightening man.
"Rachele was not a victim. She was a woman of extraordinary character, who defied her time. This love story, despite all its contradictions, was real – more real than any official portrait."/Corriere della Sera
