Licio Gelli
An Italian power broker who secretly pulled the strings of finance, politics, and terror from within a shadowy Masonic lodge.
1919–2015 (age 96)·Italian financier and Master of Propaganda Due·Birthday: April 21·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Licio Gelli’s life was a dark odyssey through the underbelly of 20th-century Italy. Beginning as a young fascist volunteer, he navigated the post-war landscape not as a politician, but as a puppeteer. His true influence stemmed from his leadership of Propaganda Due (P2), a clandestine Masonic lodge that functioned as a parallel state. Its membership list, discovered in 1981, read like a who's who of Italy's military, intelligence, and business elite, revealing a network designed to manipulate democracy. Gelli's operations were bankrolled by his involvement in the spectacular collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano, a scandal that implicated the Vatican and left a trail of corpses. Linked to neofascist terrorism, including the 1980 Bologna station massacre, he became a fugitive, escaping Swiss prison only to later negotiate a surreal, self-managed surrender. He spent his final decades under a form of house arrest, a living symbol of Italy's unresolved 'Years of Lead' and the deep state that operated in the shadows.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Licio was born in 1919, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Licio Was Born
The biggest hits of 1919
Licio's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1919Born
Treaty of Versailles signed; Prohibition ratified
President: Woodrow Wilson
1924Started school
First Winter Olympics held in Chamonix, France
President: Calvin Coolidge"It Had to Be You" — Isham Jones
1932Became a teenager
Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Atlantic
Gas: $0.18/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Night and Day" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Grand Hotel
1935Could drive
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1937Could vote
Hindenburg disaster; Golden Gate Bridge opens
Gas: $0.20/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"A-Tisket, A-Tasket" — Ella FitzgeraldBest Picture: The Life of Emile Zola
1940Turned 21
The Blitz: Germany bombs London
Gas: $0.18/galHome: $2,938Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I'll Never Smile Again" — Tommy DorseyBest Picture: Rebecca
1949Turned 30
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1959Turned 40
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1969Turned 50
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 60
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 70
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 80
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2015Died at 96
Paris climate agreement; same-sex marriage legalized in the US
Gas: $2.43/galHome: $171,900Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Uptown Funk" — Mark Ronson ft. Bruno MarsBest Picture: Spotlight
Key Achievements
- Exposed as the Venerable Master of the clandestine Masonic lodge Propaganda Due (P2) in 1981, revealing a secret network of hundreds of powerful Italians.
- Central figure in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, one of Italy's largest banking collapses, which was linked to money laundering and the Vatican Bank.
- Fled to Switzerland and was arrested in 1982, but orchestrated a dramatic escape from prison in 1983 before later surrendering.
- Investigated for connections to numerous acts of political terrorism in Italy during the 1970s and 80s, including the Bologna railway station bombing.
Did You Know?
His P2 lodge membership list, discovered in a raid, included over 900 names, among them generals, MPs, secret service chiefs, and prominent journalists.
He was a war correspondent for the Italian fascist regime's newspaper during the Spanish Civil War.
After his escape from Swiss prison, he lived openly in a villa in Tuscany for several years before his final arrest.
He was the father-in-law of the Italian actress and politician Maria Stella Conte.
“The lodge is a laboratory for power, not a club for gentlemen.”
