Maurizio Rava

He was born in a rich family of Jews in Milan.[3] He travelled in the colonial possessions of the Kingdom of Italy and wrote some books about. Rava in 1909 founded "Il Carroccio", a political literary periodical, staunchly supporting the new Italian Nationalist Party: he strongly advocated Italian colonial expansion.

Since young he showed right-wind ideals against socialism. He fought during WW1 as a lieutenant of the Italian Army and in 1922 he participated in the fascism take control of Italy with the same Mussolini (who defended him from racial laws in 1938). In the late 1920s & early 1930s he was the highest ranking Jew in the Italian Fascist Party.

Rava was linked to the development of the Betar Naval Academy (the first Israeli navy creation) in the Lazio coast.

He had a son - Carlo Enrico Rava - who was a renowned architect in Italy and co-founder of Gruppo 7, a current of Rationalism.

In 1930 Rava was made Vice-governor of Tripolitania and promoted a modern architectural plan for Tripoli, with the help of his son Carlo Enrico.

In 1931 was named Governor of Somalia. He successfully promoted the economy of this colonial country until 1935, when returned to Italy. Rava also promoted the creation of the first postal service stations in all Somalia. As a governor, he also made tentatives to integrate the native population into the modern italian colonial system (abolishing -for example- the slavery in all the colony and promoting an initial process of alphabetization & elementary instruction for native children in the Mogadishu area). In 1934 Governor Rava welcomed the King of Italy in a Somalia visit[4] and gave him a famous informative book (titled "Somalia 1931-1935") showing the improvements he did to the colony in the years he was governor.[5]

In 1938 Rava was proposed to be Senator of the Kingdom of Italy, but his Jewish roots blocked his nomination (however Mussolini complained about this refusal and promoted him to Generale di Brigata).

In 1939 was named General in the Italian Army (Black Shirt Division) and moved to Italian Libya.

Maurizio Rava died in 1941 from wounds suffered in Libya & Egypt fighting the British Army, during Operation Compass.

Maurizio Rava wrote some books. The most famous are:

• Al lago Tsana (il mar profondo d'Etiopia) (edited in 1913).

• l'Eritrea; la nostra colonia primogenita (edited in 1923).

• Somalia; Parole ai Coloniali (edited in 1935).

• Other minor works are: "Ingiustizia delle sanzioni: l’Italia stato aggredito", Roma 1936; "Il problema della mano d’opera in Somalia", Roma 1937; "Ovest etiopico: nei paesi del platino e dell’oro", Roma 1938; "Politica sociale verso gli indigeni e modi di collaborazione con essi", Roma 1938; "Diario di un secondo viaggio nell’ovest etiopico", Roma 1939.

• Beltrami, Vanni. Italia d'oltremare: storie dei territori italiani dalla conquista alla caduta. Publisher Edizioni Nuova Cultura. Roma, 2011 ISBN 8861347029
• *Calchi Novati, Gian Paolo. L'Africa d'Italia Editori Carrocci. Roma, 2011.

• Italian Somalia