Ministry of the Colonies (Italy)

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Minister of the Colonies
Ministro per l'Africa italiana
Longest serving Emilio De Bono (12 September 1929 – 17 January 1935)
Ministry of the Colonies
Status	Abolished
Constituting instrument	Royal Decree n. 1205
Precursor	Central Direction of Colonial Affairs
Formation	21 November 1912 (21 November 1912)
First holder	Pietro Bertolini
Final holder	Alcide De Gasperi
Abolished	19 April 1953 (19 April 1953)

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.

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