I discovered that "Il Duce", Benito Mussolini, the Italian Premiere was an admirer of Mark Twain. I learned about it in front of a bust of Mark Twain in the Central Library of St. Louis.
In 1935 Mussolini expressed his admiration for the American writer in a letter to The International Mark Twain Society along with a $200 donation toward the erection of a Mark Twain Memorial. The Society named Mussolini Honorary Chairman for his generosity during the year-long nation-wide celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mark Twain.
According to the New York Times, Mussolini said, "Twain has been and remains one of my preferred authors." It seems odd to me that one of the notorious dictators of World War II should so admire the author from Missouri who chronicled human nature and the open, simple American life so well.
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