Dino Grandi Dino Grandi ( June 4 , 1895 – May 21 , 1988 ) , 1st Conte di Mordano , was an Italian Fascist politician , minister of justice , minister of foreign affairs and president of parliament . Biography . Early life . Born at Mordano , province of Bologna , Grandi was a graduate in law and economics at the University of Bologna in 1919 ( after serving in World War I ) , Grandi started a career as a lawyer in Imola . Attracted to the political left , he nonetheless became impressed with Benito Mussolini after the two met in 1914 , and became a staunch advocate of Italy ' s entry into the World War . He joined the Blackshirts at age 25 , and was one of 35 Fascist delegates elected , along with Mussolini , in May 1921 to the Chamber of Deputies . Grandi survived an ambush carried out by leftist militants in 1920 , and had his studio devastated on one occasion . A Fascist statesman . After the March on Rome on October 28 , 1922 , in which the Fascists took power in Italy , Grandi became part of the new government ; first as the undersecretary of the interior ( 1923 ) , then as the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs ( 1929 ) , and then as Italy ' s ambassador to the United Kingdom ( 1932 to 1939 ) . He was recalled to Italy to be appointed Minister of Justice . Dino Grandi was an ally to the most radical and violent groups of fascists , always surrounding himself with members of the Blackshirts . He used his position to voice criticism of Mussolini ' s attempt to reach an armistice with left - wingers , and was under suspicion for having attempted to replace the latter with the skeptical alleged Mussolini forerunner Gabriele D ' Annunzio . As a diplomat , Grandi created a net of connections that were only rivaled by Mussolini ' s son - in - law , Galeazzo Ciano , and attempted to use it for his own gains . Thus , he persuaded King Victor Emmanuel III to grant him a title in 1937 , and managed to retain a comfortable position until he was sent by Mussolini to the Greek Front with the other " Gerarchi " in 1941 . Coup and later life . Grandi opposed Italy ' s entry into World War II . He was dropped from the Cabinet in February 1943 due to his increasing criticism of the war effort . As the war began to have its devastating effect on Italy after Operation Husky , Grandi and other members of the Fascist Grand Council met July 24 , 1943 . When Mussolini said that the Germans were thinking of evacuating the south , Grandi launched a blistering attack on his former comrade - in - arms . He then made a motion ( " Ordine del giorno Grandi " ) asking King Victor Emmanuel III to resume his full constitutional authority . The resolution , voted at 2 : 00 o ' clock of the 25 July , passed by a vote of 19 to 7 , with one abstention — effectively removing Mussolini from office . Those leading government figures who had voted for the resolution included Giuseppe Bottai and Emilio De Bono as well as Grandi . The King arrested Mussolini the same day . Grandi also negotiated a truce with the left - wing movements , notably with the trade unions ( grouped in the Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro ) , which gave way to the Italian resistance movement against Nazi Germany . While the Allies occupied the south , an alternate Fascist government was established in Northern Italy as the Italian Social Republic . It sentenced Grandi to death " in absentia " for treason in the Verona trial that took place on January 8 – 10 , 1944 . Grandi , however , had the foresight to flee to Francisco Franco ' s Spain in August 1943 . He lived there , then in Portugal ( 1943 – 1948 ) , then Argentina , and then São Paulo , Brazil , until returning to Italy in the 1960s ; he died in Bologna . Coincidentally , Grandi died on the same weekend as two post - war Italian Fascist leaders . Like Grandi , Pino Romualdi died on May 21 , 1988 , while Giorgio Almirante died the following day .