About
Licio Gelli, born April 21, 1919, in Pistoia, and died December 15, 2015, in Arezzo, was an Italian financier and controversial figure. He joined Mussolini's Blackshirts in the 1930s and fought alongside Franco during the Spanish Civil War. In 1970, he founded the clandestine masonic lodge Propaganda Due (P2), whose membership list, discovered in 1981, included nearly a thousand influential figures. A parliamentary commission declared it a criminal organization aimed at subverting Italian democracy. Gelli was convicted of fraud in the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano and of obstruction of justice in the investigation of the Bologna massacre. He fled abroad, was arrested, escaped, and surrendered in 1987.
* 1919-04-21 — † 2015-12-15
Key milestones
- 1970Founded the clandestine masonic lodge Propaganda Due (P2).
- 1981A police raid on his villa uncovered the P2 membership list, including about 962 prominent figures.
- 1982Arrested in Geneva with a fake passport, he escaped from prison and remained a fugitive until 1987.
Themes
FascismPolitical subversionFreemasonryFinancial scandalJustice and flight
Sources: bbc.co.uk · nytimes.com