Data sheet
Name: Monument for Lina Bensussan
Location: field 5, no. 51-53-55
Author: Giacomo Maselli (sculptor)
Construction date: 1928
Lina Bensussan died in the bombing of Piazza Giulio Cesare during the inauguration of the Milan Fair on April 12, 1928, at the age of thirteen. The bombing was intended to target King Vittorio Emanuele III, who was supposed to inaugurate the fair, but he was not harmed as the procession was still at the Central Station. The bomb had been placed on a lamppost. Lina had gone to the fair with the family maid, who also died, and her younger siblings, who were injured. The attack resulted in 20 deaths and dozens of injuries. The investigation lasted for years but yielded no results. Suspicions fell on the anti-fascist group Giustizia e Libertà, though the perpetrators may have been dissident fascists. Even Mussolini did not want to thoroughly investigate the massacre, which served to target anti-fascists, maintain special laws, and intensify police controls across the country.
The sculptor Giacomo Maselli, born in Cutrofiano (LE) in 1883 and deceased in Milan in 1958, created a statue representing a young girl holding a flower with a broken stem. At the base of the statue, the inscription reads: “Lina Bensussan tragically taken in the bloom of youth to celestial joys, an innocent victim of the horrific massacre in Piazza Giulio Cesare, forgave the wicked killers, and may the Almighty and merciful God forgive her too.”
The monument also houses the remains of Lina’s father, aunt, and grandparents, originally from Thessaloniki.
