The decades of silence Antonio de Viti de Marco from 1923 to 1943

Abstract

This article concentrates on the final twenty years of Antonio de Viti de Marco's life, the years of the fascist dictatorship, in order to fill a gap in the knowledge of his activity and motivations. It brings together the limited infor-mation available, tracking down elements that explain his decision to withdraw into isolation. The article considers the main aspects marking this period of his life, namely: the antifascist who rarely had a chance to show himself; the economist, whose scientific work makes up the best-known part of his biography of this peri-od; the agriculturalist, whose role is linked to his anti-protectionist battle; and lastly the private man, who during these years went through a profound ordeal. The re-search explains the reasons for his long silence by revealing that there was not a single aspect in which De Viti was spared during the twenty years of fascism, nei-ther political, nor scientific, nor in economic policy, and not even in the private sphere