Liuzzi
LIUZZI
LIUZZI , family of Italian soldiers. guido liuzzi (1866–1941) was born at Reggio Emilia. He graduated from the Military Academy of Modena. He took part as a junior officer in the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912. At the beginning of World War i, in 1915, Liuzzi was a colonel on the General Staff. He was appointed brigadier general in 1917. Subsequently he was chief of the Service Corps of the Armies of the Grappa in 1918. After the war he directed the War Academy from 1919 until 1925. During World War i he was decorated with the Great Cross of the Order of Saints Maurizio and Lazzaro (Italy), and Croix de Guerre (France). In 1925–26 he commanded the Trento and Padova Divisions. Between 1928 and 1932 he commanded the First Army Corps at Udine. He left the army in 1932 and in 1934 he was elected president of the Jewish community of Turin. In 1938 he denounced the duplicity of both Mussolini and the king of Italy, who legislated the racial laws in 1938.
giorgio liuzzi (1895–1983), son of Guido. He was born at Vercelli in 1895 and joined the Italian Army in 1915 at the beginning of World War i. In 1917, he was promoted to captain for exceptional merit. Giorgio Liuzzi was twice wounded during World War i, on Mount Zebio (June 10, 1917) and on the Bainsizza (Aug. 25, 1917). He was also decorated with the silver military medal (Middle Isonzo), and twice with the bronze medal on Mount Zebio and Piave Val Cordevole.
In 1938 Giorgio Liuzzi had the rank of colonel. In the same year, however, like all the other Jewish officers, he was dismissed from the army following Mussolini's racial laws. In 1943 he was arrested by the Germans and put in a concentration camp in the Marche. He escaped together with his brother Ferruccio and with his cousin Max Eckhart. In January 1944 Giorgio, together with his companions, arrived in Rome, where he put himself at the disposal of the underground cil (Comitato Italiano di Liberazione) that directed the partisan war against the Nazis. When Rome was liberated by the Allies, Giorgio Liuzzi was reintegrated in the Italian Army, and soon thereafter he was appointed chief of staff of the "a" group of the General Staff of the Italian Army. In February 1945 he was appointed brigadier general with duties at Headquarters.
In 1948 Giorgio Liuzzi received the onerous task of reorganizing and commanding the Ariete Armored Division. In 1953 he was promoted to the rank of general, commander of Army Corps. From 1954 until 1959 he was the chief of staff of the Italian Army. General Liuzzi was a staunch supporter of Israel. As chief of staff he sold to Israel, in 1953 and in 1955, Spitfire and Mustang planes of the Italian Air Force, which were the mainstay of the iaf in the Sinai Campaign in 1956.
bibliography:
G. Formiggini, Stella d'Italia, Stella di David, Gli ebrei dal Risorgimento alla Resistenza, Milano 1970, 52–53.
[Samuele Rocca (2nd ed.)]