User:Antje Gamble/Max Ascoli

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Ascoli came to the United States as a political refugee during the Italian Fascist Period and is best known for his strong antifascist stance.

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His doctoral degree in philosophy at the University of Rome was completed in 1928.

Ascoli published his first openly antifascst article in 1923, just one year after Mussolini was elected prime minister. It was published in the antifascist periodical Rivoluzione Liberale. In it, he identified the rise of Fascist as, in part, due to the lack of support for veterans returning from WWI. His antifascist writing ramped up after the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti, whom he knew well.

Once in the US, Ascoli was advocating for economic support for the Italian state to stop a fascist resurgence. One of the ways he wanted to support Italy was through the financial support of artisan industries. It was to this end that he created the CADMA and later participated with the House of Italian Handicrafts. He was also on the advisory board for the exhibition Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today that was organized by Meryic Rogers and Charles Nagel.