During the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City, soldiers shot Oriana Fallaci three times and left her for dead, yet she survived to provide the eyewitness evidence that dismantled official government denials. This event characterized a career defined by high-risk reporting and an uncompromising, adversarial approach to interviewing the most powerful political figures of the twentieth century.
Resistance and Early Activism
Born in Florence in 1929, Fallaci grew up during the rise of the Italian fascist dictatorship. Her father, Edoardo Fallaci, actively opposed the regime, an involvement that led to his arrest and torture at the Villa Triste. During the Second World War, she joined the Giustizia e Libertà resistance movement. As a teenager, she operated as a courier, moving messages and munitions across the Arno river to evade Nazi detection.
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Following studies at the University of Florence, Fallaci began a career in journalism at the suggestion of her uncle, Bruno Fallaci. By 1946, she was a special correspondent for the newspaper Il mattino dell'Italia centrale. She later worked for magazines such as L'Europeo and Epoca, eventually expanding her focus to international conflicts including the Vietnam War, the Indo-Pakistani War, and regional crises in the Middle East and South America.
High-Profile Interviews
Fallaci became known for aggressive interviewing techniques that often provoked unexpected revelations from world leaders. In 1972, she pressed Henry Kissinger until he characterized the Vietnam War as useless. Her 1979 exchange with Ayatollah Khomeini involved a direct confrontation regarding the status of Iranian women and the imposition of the chador. Her collected interviews were compiled in the 1973 volume Intervista con la storia.
Personal Life and Controversies
During the 1970s, she maintained a relationship with Alexandros Panagoulis, a Greek resistance figure who fought against the Regime of the Colonels. Following his death in a 1976 road accident, which she attributed to political assassination, she wrote the novel A Man. In her later years, following the September 11 attacks, she authored books critical of Islam, which generated significant public debate and allegations of Islamophobia.
Fast facts
- Born: 29 June 1929, Florence
- Died: 15 September 2006, Florence
- Education: University of Florence; Liceo classico statale Galileo
- Awards: Bancarella Literary Prize (1970); Ambrogino d'oro
- Religion: Atheism
- Burial site: Cimitero Evangelico agli Allori
Questions readers ask
What was Oriana Fallaci's role in the Italian resistance?
She joined the Giustizia e Libertà movement and served as a clandestine carrier of messages and munitions across the Arno river during World War II.
Why was her 1968 reporting from Mexico significant?
She provided eyewitness testimony of the Tlatelolco massacre after being shot and left for dead, which served as evidence contradicting official government claims.
Achievements
- Gold medal for merit in school, culture and art
- Bancarella Literary Prize — 1970
