Mary de Rachewiltz, the 86-year-old daughter of poet Ezra Pound, has launched a legal battle to force the Italian far-right group CasaPound to change its name. The group, which has about 5,000 members, is named after the American poet, who was known for his fascist sympathies and antisemitism.
De Rachewiltz, who lives in a hilltop castle in northern Italy, said she had first planned to act two years ago when CasaPound spread beyond Rome. She redoubled her efforts after a CasaPound sympathiser went on a shooting spree in Florence on 13 December, killing two Senegalese men and wounding three others before killing himself. 'This affected me terribly. It was the last straw,' she told the Guardian.
Ezra Pound was a leading figure in the London poetry scene before World War I, helping launch TS Eliot's career. After moving to Italy, he became a vocal supporter of Benito Mussolini's fascism, defending him in radio broadcasts to the US during World War II. He was captured by US troops in 1945, declared insane, and imprisoned for 12 years.
CasaPound campaigns for cheap public housing, drawing on Pound's denouncement of usury, but has been accused of attracting violent supporters. A Rome member was arrested last month on suspicion of assaulting leftwing activists. Gianluca Casseri, the Florence killer, spoke at CasaPound meetings, though the group has distanced itself from him.
Simone di Stefano, a CasaPound official, said the group was 'very sorry' about the lawsuit and argued that 'Pound is not a trademark and anyone can refer to his ideas.' De Rachewiltz countered: 'Pound was not leftwing or rightwing and you have to understand The Cantos to understand that. It is also a question of style. I have seen pictures of their shaven-headed leader and it does not impress me.'
