(Campagnano di Roma, 1900 – Florence, 1982), a journalist, studied in Pisa and began his career in the post-war period, contributing to magazines related to fascism, a movement he had been a member of since its inception. In Florence, between 1925 and 1926, he was editor of "Battaglie fasciste," the organ of the Florentine Fascist Party. In 1929, he became editor-in-chief and then, in 1934, editor of "Il bargello," the weekly magazine of the Florentine Fascist Federation. As editor, he introduced the newspaper to young men who would go on to shape the history of contemporary Italian literature, such as Bilenchi, Pratolini, and Vittorini. Despite his friendship with Pavolini, which lasted until the end of the regime, and his closeness to men such as Giuseppe Bottai, Camillo Pelizzi, and Gherardo Casini, he did not play a particularly prominent role in fascism.
The Gioacchino Contri Fund is divided into the following sections: Correspondence, which collects letters addressed to Contri from various senders, including Allodoli, Bargellini, Bilenchi, Bottai, Cardarelli, Casini, Longanesi, Maccari, Michelucci, Ojetti, Pavolini, Pellizzi, Pratolini, Ricci, Romanelli, Rosai Bruno and Ottone, Savinio, Soffici, Vallecchi, Vittorini; Manuscripts, mostly typescripts of articles largely concerning the activity of “Il bargello”; Photo Library, approximately 350 photos depicting friends of the time, some with dedications (Ricci, Casini, Agnoletti, Pavolini), others of customs and environments dating back to the 30s, more than a hundred concerning the fascist regime and its history, often with captions on the back; Various, among which we note a file with material regarding the activity of “Il bargello”, containing receipts from collaborators, notes, drafts by Contri, drafts, reports and a copy of “Il bargello murale” (Florence, a.10, n.446, 18 November 1941); Press review, only partially arranged, contains numerous clippings, some with interventions and notes by Contri; Library, currently being inventoried, which contains approximately 1500 volumes relating to a wide variety of disciplines: Greek and Latin literature, classical and contemporary Italian literature, foreign literature, history from the Middle Ages to the Second World War, with particular attention to fascism, art history, philosophy, pedagogy, history of religions; Journals, currently being inventoried, which collects some issues of “The Wild One”, “Pegasus”, “The Frontispiece”, “The New Anthology”, “Black and White”.
