Revamping the Shanghai Italian Consulate with Edda Mussolini
Posted: October 8th, 2023 | No Comments »I heard Caroline Moorehead speaking about her excellent biography of Edda Mussolini a few weeks ago up at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Edda’s vulgar and nasty husband Count Ciano, a fascist to his bone marrow, was Italian Consul at Shanghai in 1931-1932 – the couple had a child while there though Ciano was a notorious skirt chaser and Edda had an affair with the rather dapper warlord Zhang Xueliang, the Young Marshal.
Moorehead had one interesting story (among many). When Ciano got to Shanghai the Italian Consulate was really rather run down. Mussolini was quite parsimonious and never really trusted most of the diplomatic corps, beliving them to be straw fascisti at best and traitor more likely. But this was different – his daughter was the Consul’s wife and she managed to twist his arm and get some cash sent over to do the place up. They were not only able to decorate and buy new furniture but also employ some decent Chinese and Italian chefs. Edda became known by some as the “Queen of Shanghai”. Obnoxious as he was the revitalised social whirl of the Italian Consulate and the role of Edda as hostess did wonders for Italian soft power (and arms and aeroplane sales) in China during their brief tenure.
Leave a Reply