Gabriele D'Annunzio

Gabriele D'Annunzio ( 1863 – 1938), was a novelist, poet, playwright and soldier during World War I. He occupied a prominent place in Italian literature from 1889 to 1910 and after that political life from 1914 to 1924.
D'Annunzio was associated with the Decadent movement in his literary works. He came under the influence of Friedrich Nietzsche and both his poetry and novels embodied the cult of the superman.His affairs with several women, including Eleonora Duse and Luisa Casati, received public attention.
During the First World War, perception of D'Annunzio in Italy would be transformed from literary figure into a national war hero. He was associated with the elite Arditi storm troops of the Italian Army and took part in actions such as the Flight over Vienna. As part of an Italian nationalist reaction against the Paris Peace Conference, he set up the short-lived Italian Regency of Carnaro in Fiume with himself as Duce. Some of the ideas and aesthetics influenced Italian fascism and the style of Benito Mussolini.

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