Nunzio Nasi
Nunzio Nasi was an Italian liberal politician from Trapani, a long-serving deputy and twice a cabinet minister. He was at the centre of the caso Nasi, a corruption case, and later joined the Aventine opposition to Fascism before losing his seat in 1926. He died in Erice in 1935.
Biography
Nasi was born in Trapani in April 1850 and graduated in law in 1873. After early work in education administration and journalism in Trapani, he entered municipal and provincial politics and was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1886, holding the seat until 1926.He served as Minister of Posts and Telegraphs in the first Pelloux government and as Minister of Public Instruction in the Zanardelli Cabinet.
As minister, he promoted the opening of the ginnasio "Vittorio Emanuele III" in Erice in 1900, housed in the former Santa Teresa monastery.
In 1904 a parliamentary inquiry alleged abuses and irregularities during his time at the education ministry. Nasi fled abroad before returning to face proceedings; after jurisdictional disputes, the case went before the Senate as High Court in 1907, amid large demonstrations of support in Sicily. He received an 11-month sentence for peculation; nevertheless, he continued to be repeatedly re-elected by his constituency.
In the 1920s Nasi aligned with anti-Fascist deputies. In 1926 the regime declared him and the other Aventine deputies deprived of their mandates.
He died in Erice in 1935.