# Ministry of the Colonies (Italy)

The Ministry of the Colonies (Ministero delle colonie) was the ministry of the government of the Kingdom of Italy responsible for the governing of the country's colonial possessions and the direction of their economies. It was set up on 20 November 1912 by Royal Decree n. 1205, turning the Central Direction of Colonial Affairs within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs into a separate ministry. Royal Decree n. 431 of 8 April 1937 renamed it the Ministry of Italian Africa (Ministro per l'Africa italiana) after the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, which resulted in the Italian annexation of the Ethiopian Empire and the birth of Italian East Africa. It was suppressed on 19 April 1953 by law n. 430.

## List of ministers

| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Political party | Government | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political party | Political party | Government | Ref. |
| Minister of the Colonies ||||||||||
| 1 | | Pietro Bertolini (1859–1920) | 21 November 1912 | 21 March 1914 | 1 year, 120 days | | Liberal Union | Giolitti IV | |
| 2 | | Ferdinando Martini (1841–1928) | 21 March 1914 | 18 June 1916 | 2 years, 89 days | | Liberal Union | Salandra I–II | |
| 3 | | Gaspare Colosimo (1859–1944) | 18 June 1916 | 23 June 1919 | 3 years, 5 days | | Liberal Union | Boselli Orlando | |
| 4 | | Luigi Rossi (1867–1941) | 23 June 1919 | 14 March 1920 | 265 days | | Italian Radical Party | Nitti I | |
| – | | Francesco Saverio Nitti (1867–1941) Acting | 14 March 1920 | 21 May 1920 | 68 days | | Italian Radical Party | Nitti I | |
| 5 | | Meuccio Ruini (1867–1941) | 21 May 1920 | 15 June 1920 | 25 days | | Italian Radical Party | Nitti II | |
| (4) | | Luigi Rossi (1867–1941) | 15 June 1920 | 4 July 1921 | 1 year, 19 days | | Italian Radical Party | Giolitti V | |
| 6 | | Giuseppe Girardini [it] (1856–1923) | 4 July 1921 | 26 February 1922 | 237 days | | Social Democracy | Bonomi I | |
| 7 | | Giovanni Amendola (1882–1926) | 26 February 1922 | 30 October 1922 | 246 days | | Democratic Liberal Party | Facta I–II | |
| 8 | | Luigi Federzoni (1878–1967) | 26 February 1922 | 3 June 1924 | 2 years, 98 days | | Nationalist Association | Mussolini | |
| 9 | | Pietro Lanza di Scalea (1863–1938) | 3 June 1924 | 6 November 1926 | 2 years, 156 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| (8) | | Luigi Federzoni (1878–1967) | 6 November 1926 | 18 December 1928 | 42 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| – | | Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Acting | 18 December 1928 | 12 September 1929 | 268 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| 10 | | Emilio De Bono (1866–1944) | 12 September 1929 | 17 January 1935 | 5 years, 127 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| – | | Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Acting | 17 January 1935 | 11 June 1936 | 1 year, 146 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| 11 | | Alessandro Lessona (1891–1991) | 11 June 1936 | 8 April 1937 | 301 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| Minister of Italian Africa ||||||||||
| (11) | | Alessandro Lessona (1891–1991) | 8 April 1937 | 20 November 1937 | 226 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| 12 | | Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) | 20 November 1937 | 31 October 1939 | 1 year, 345 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| 13 | | Attilio Teruzzi (1882–1950) | 31 October 1939 | 25 July 1943 | 3 years, 267 days | | National Fascist Party | Mussolini | |
| 14 | | Melchiade Gabba (1874–1952) | 27 July 1943 | 11 February 1944 | 199 days | | Independent | Badoglio I | – |
| – | | Pietro Badoglio (1871–1956) Acting | 11 February 1944 | 8 June 1944 | 118 days | | Independent | Badoglio I–II | – |
| – | | Ivanoe Bonomi (1873–1951) Acting | 18 June 1944 | 21 June 1945 | 1 year, 13 days | | Labour Democratic Party | Bonomi II–III | – |
| 16 | | Ferruccio Parri (1890–1981) | 21 June 1945 | 8 December 1945 | 170 days | | Action Party | Parri | |
| 17 | | Alcide De Gasperi (1881–1954) | 10 December 1945 | 19 April 1953 | 7 years, 132 days | | Christian Democracy | De Gasperi I–II–III–IV–V–VI–VII | [15][16] [17][18] [19][20] [21] |