Gabriele D'Annunzio

Gabriele D'Annunzio rose to prominence in Italian literature from 1889 to 1910, aligned with the Decadent movement—sensuous, mystical, a turn from naturalism—and influenced by Nietzsche. His affairs with women like Eleonora Duse and Luisa Casati kept his name in the papers; his politics swung from socialism to nationalism. World War I remade him: he fought with the elite Arditi, flew the daring Flight over Vienna, and became a national hero. In 1919, enraged by the Paris Peace Conference, he seized Fiume and established the Italian Regency of Carnaro with himself as Duce, writing a corporatist…