The Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, written by Benedetto Croce in response to the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals by Giovanni Gentile, sanctioned the irreconcilable split between the philosopher and the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini, to which he had previously given a vote of confidence on 31 October 1922. The idea of an anti-Fascist manifesto came to Giovanni Amendola, who wrote to Croce, a proclaimed anti-Fascist, for his opinions on 20 April 1925:
Croce replied a day later, saying that he would be more than willing to, but that the document ought to be short, "so as not to alienate the common folk."
The manifesto was published by the liberal newspaper Il Mondo and by the Catholic newspaper Il Popolo on 1 May 1925, which was Workers' Day, symbolically responding to the publication of the Fascist manifesto on the Natale di Roma, the founding of Rome (celebrated on 21 April). The Fascist press claimed that the Crocian manifesto was "more authoritarian" than its Fascist counterpart.
The Manifesto was signed in total by hundreds of intellectuals, of whose signatures only 270 were published, divided into 3 lists published by il Mondo, and a few other newspapers, on Friday, May 1, Sunday, May 10, and Friday, May 22, 1925, respectively.
Il Mondo published three lists of prominent signatories of the manifesto, first on 1 May and then longer lists on 10 May and 22 May. Among the supporters were:
One hundred years after the publication of the original manifesto, on May 1st 2025 the collective Il Manifesto di Londra launched a new manifesto in the form of an open letter motivated by the desire to stop the return of fascism, with a specific concern relating to the Donald Trump's presidency. Between May 1st and June 14th the new letter gathered the support of over 400 intellectuals from more than 30 countries, including 31 Nobel Prize laureates, 11 winners of the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, and other prominent historians, philosophers, political scientists and experts on fascism and democracy. Notable signatories include Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Seyla Benhabib, John S. Dryzek, Steven Friedman, John Keane, Claudia Koonz, Steven Levitsky, Arend Lijphart, Nancy MacLean, Jane Mansbridge, Achille Mbembe, Pippa Norris, Timothy Snyder, Jason Stanley, Nadia Urbinati.
As in 1925, the renewed letter against fascism was published simultaneously across multiple news outletsâÂÂthis time translated into French, English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, and TurkishâÂÂstarting at 12:00 UTC on June 13th 2025, in order to enable print publication on June 14th across all time zones. The date of June 14th was chosen to coincide with Donald Trump's birthday. Following its publication, the letter was opened to public signatures, reaching approximately 8,000 signatories in the first month.