Politicians call for Mussolini’s Swiss academic award to be revoked

The University of Lausanne awarded Benito Mussolini an honorary doctorate in 1937 “for having conceived and realised in his homeland a social organisation which has enriched sociological science and which will leave a profound mark on history”. The title was given to coincide with the university’s 400th anniversary. tvsvizzera

In January 1937, the University of Lausanne (UNIL) awarded Benito Mussolini an honorary doctorate. A group of Vaud politicians on Tuesday called for the academic title to be revoked.

Mussolini was awardedExternal link the university honorary doctorate “for having conceived and realised in his homeland a social organisation which has enriched sociological science and which will leave a profound mark on history”. The award was made to coincide with the university’s 400th anniversary.

The academic title sparked criticism at the time – and continues to do so.

On Tuesday a leftwing group of politicians filed a motion in the Vaud parliament calling for the title to be officially revoked. The issue is set to be discussed next week.

Close ties to Vaud and Lausanne

Mussolini’s connection with Switzerland dates back to 1902 when he first travelled to the country as a young unemployed teacher looking for work. He survived as a labourer and frequented Socialist circles, where he began to get noticed as an orator and journalist.

In Lausanne he was arrested for vagrancy. Canton Bern also expelled him after inciting Italian workers to strike. The federal police kept an eye on him, considering him a dangerous agitator.

In 1904 he returned to Lausanne, where he enrolled at the university’s Faculty of Social and Political Sciences. He later returned to Italy in November of that year, thanks to an amnesty that prevented him being sentenced as a draft-dodger. Mussolini maintained close ties with canton Vaud and its capital, and with certain members of the Italian community.

“Regrettable”

The issue of the honorary doctorate is “regrettable” and creates “unease”, according to the new university rector, Frédéric Herman.

“All I would like to say is that UNIL’s values are the opposite of fascism. What is important is to be able to look at your past. Like any institution, we are fallible, and in this case, we failed,” he told Swiss public radio RTS.

But the rector says withdrawing the award posthumously is complicated. The university has set up a group of internal experts to examine the question. It should complete its work by the spring in order to have a clear institutional position, says Herman.