Born in 1909, Indro Montanelli became one of Italy's most famous journalists. He began his career as a freelance reporter for Paris Soir and the United Press news agency but in 1937 he was forced into exile by the Fascists due to his objective reporting. When he returned to Italy in 1939 he joined the well-known daily, "Il Corriere della Sera" but he was sentenced to death in 1944 for an article he wrote about Mussolini and his lover Clara Petacci. He managed to escape to Switzerland but returned to italy after the war and became one of Italy's most respected journalists. In 1973 he founded his own conservative daily "Il Giornale". On 2nd June 1977, Montanelli was shot four times in the legs by members of the extreme left movement, the Red Brigades, who were opposed to his conservative views but astonishingly he survived and continued to fight against terrorism. Montanelli wrote approximately 60 books, mostly historical commentaries, and won numerous awards including the "World Press Review's International Editor of the Year" in 1994. He died on the 22nd July 2001 aged 92.