Rachele Mussolini

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Donna ("Lady") Rachele Mussolini (born Rachele Guidi) (11 April 1890 - 30 October 1979) was the wife of Benito Mussolini. She came from a peasant family and moved in with Benito Mussolini in 1910. They married in 1915 in a civil ceremony and renewed their vows in a religious service in 1925 (after Benito's rise to power). She bore five children by her husband, and was willing to ignore his various mistresses. She was portrayed as the model Fascist housewife and mother. She remained loyal to Mussolini until the end, and was arrested in 1945 by Italian Partisans in Switzerland (she fled Italy after World War II) and was turned over to the Americans as a harmless matron and was released after several months. In her later life she ran a restaurant and received a Government pension until her death. After her husband's death she begged to have his body for private burial.