Colonna was born in 1878.[1] From 1907, he started his political career and became a member of the parliament in the period 1909–1921.[2] He founded and published a magazine entitled Rassegna contemporanea which is among the early anthroposophical publications.[1] As of 1914, he was a member of the Italian National Olympic Committee.[3]
Following the general elections on 15 May 1921 Colonna was named as the minister of post and telegraphs in the cabinet led by Giovanni Giolitti.[2] He was appointed minister of posts to the cabinet headed by Luigi Facta on 25 February 1922, but he resigned from office soon being succeeded by Luigi Fulci in the post.[4] In 1922, Colonna established the Social Democracy party and joined the government of Benito Mussolini as the minister of post and telegraphs, which he held until his resignation in February 1924.[1] He was replaced by Costanzo Ciano in the post.[5] Following this incident, Colonna retired from politics.[1] His another magazine was Lo Stato Democratico (Italian: The Democratic State) which also published anthroposophical articles.[6]
Close to the environments of esotericism and Roman neopaganism of those years, Colonna was part of the UR Group which was established in 1927 (perhaps with the pseudonym of "Arvo",[7] or with those of "Krur" and "Breno").[8]
Personal life and death
Colonna was married to Barbara Antonelli, a noblewoman of Russian origins, and their daughter was Simonetta Colonna di Cesarò.[9] He died in 1940.[6]
Views
Colonna was an advocate of colonialism and democratic imperialism.[1] During World War I he supported the intervention of the Italian Empire through his writings in Rassegna contemporanea which also reflected his radical national views.[1] However, Colonna did not have a consistent political ideology. Instead, he adopted different political views depending on the conditions.[1] Following his retirement from politics Colonna became an anti-Fascist.[1]
References
^ abcdefghiPeter Staudenmaier (2012). "Anthroposophy in Fascist Italy". In Arthur Versluis; Lee Irwin; Melinda Phillips (eds.). Esotericism, Religion, and Politics. Minneapolis, MN: New Cultures Press. pp. 83–84. ISBN978-1596500136.
^Renato Del Ponte, Evola and the magical Group of UR. Studies and documents to serve the history of «Ur-Krur», Borzano (Reggio Emilia), SeaR, 1994, cf. Maurizio Martucci (2018). "Il magico Gruppo di Ur-Krur" (in Italian).