" When did you realise that you wanted to become an archeologist? -
Faily early. All started exactly bw late Summer and early Autumn of 1943,when I was 7 years old. During the War my family was staying in a village that..."

Read the AIAC interview ( 2005) with Prof. Coarelli and you'll see how profoundly his life and his career were affected by these early experiences!

You write: "I believe that Coarelli was six years old when Mussolini fell and the Fascist period ended."

A VERY misleading picture of the events! In a way, Fascism in Italy fell twice: first in July 1943, when Mussolini was dismissed and arrested, and then in April 1945, when The Nazis left Italy on April 25th. In btw two years of occupation, civil war, Mussolini partly back in power, uncertainty, increased material hardship ( not everywhere the same). And not least, after the War the difficult task of reconciliation... The close connection bw archaeology and politics during the fascist era and the obsession with reviving Italy's Roman past had for years to come seriously compromised what was to become Coarelli's chief passion in life: archeology!