NATHAN, ERNESTO

NATHAN, ERNESTO (1845–1921), Italian statesman and the first Jewish mayor of Rome. Born in England, he came into contact with the Italian patriot Guiseppe Mazzini who was exiled to London for his radical views. Nathan was taken to Italy by his mother in 1859 and settled in Rome in 1871 soon after Rome became part of the Kingdom of Italy. He became manager of Mazzini's newspaper Roma del Popolo and was a passionate republican and an advocate of the secular state. Nathan became an Italian citizen in 1889 and was twice grand master of the Italian Masons. He was elected mayor of Rome in 1907 and held office until 1913. Following the Italian entry into World War I in 1915, Nathan enlisted in the army and although over 70 served at the front as a lieutenant. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: M.I. Macioti, Ernesto Nathan: un sindaco che non ha fatto scuola (1983); P.D. Mandelli, "Ernesto Nathan cittadino pesarese," in: La presenza ebraica nelle Marche: Secoli XIII–XX (1993), 355–62; A.M. Isastia, Ernesto Nathan: un "mazziniano inglese" tra i democratici pesaresi (1994); R. Ugolini, Ernesto Nathan tra idealità e pragmatismo (2003).