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Under Italian National Law, a Doctorate in Jurisprudence (Ph.D.) gives title to three equally significant careers: legal, diplomatic, and teaching in history and philosophy.
During my five years at Federico II, I had the privilege to study under distinguished scholars. Among them, Giovanni Leone became prime minister of Italy and then the elected president of the Italian republic. Francesco De Martino, who later held ministerial positions in the Italian government during the period of the Center-Left Coalition (Il Centro Sinistra), had written Storia della Costituzione Romana to international acclaim. Biagio Petrocelli was later appointed justice of the Italian Constitutional Court. Alessandro Graziani, a victim of Fascist persecution, was a distinguished scholar of political economy. Rolando Quadri was a scholar in international law and organizations.
Another significant experience for me was to study under Ugo Rocco, a distinguished professor and brother of Alfredo Rocco (Dizion ario Enciclopedico Italiano, Vol. X, “Rome,” 1970, p. 484; and Enciclopedia Italiana, Vol. XXIX, “Rome,” p. 529). Originally a Nationalist, Alfredo Rocco had shaped the juridical system of Fascism and its constitutionalism.
The study and analysis of Il Progetto Rocco Nel Pensiero Giuridico Contemporaneo (Cedam, Padova, 1930) introduced me to the analysis of Fascism and totalitarianism by Italian and international scholars such as H. A. Smith, University of London; W. T. S. Stallybrass, Oxford University; E. Bise and Alfred von Overbeck, Frieburg University; F. Collin, University of Louvain; H. Donnedieu De Vabres, University of Paris; A. Khoehler, University of Erlangen; J. A. Roux, University of Strasbourg; Andor Kovats, University of Debrecen; Pierre Garraud, University of Lyons; and Giulio Battaglini, University of Pavia, among others. In these and other works, Alfredo Rocco’s doctrine and theories underwent severe scrutiny. It became evident to me that the Italian Nationalists and their political ideas had become the legal cornerstone of the Fascist totalitarian state. Alfredo Rocco’s new jurisprudence, implemented with the consent and approval of Benito Mussolini, was one of the most significant elements of the post-1925 establishment of the totalitarian regime.