Balbo, Italo

Balbo, Italo (1896-1940), Italian aviator, born in Quartesana, and educated at the University of Florence and at the Institute of Social Science in Rome. He was an officer in the Italian army during World War I; later he became active in the Fascist movement in Italy. In 1922 he participated in the Fascist march on Rome, helping Benito Mussolini seize control of the government. Balbo held several important posts in the Fascist regime, notably in the Black Shirt Militia, in the Air Fleet, and in the Air Ministry, which he headed from 1929 to 1933. In 1933 he commanded a group of 24 aeroplanes on a flight from Italy via Iceland, to the United States. He was promoted to the rank of air marshal in that year and was appointed governor of Libya. He died three years after becoming commander-in-chief of the Italian armed forces in North Africa, when his plane was shot down by friendly fire in Tobruk harbour.