After city councillors in Gorizia voted against stripping fascist leader Benito Mussolini of the title of freeman of this Italian city, causing upset in Slovenia, a senior archivist has revealed that back in 1924 Mussolini was also declared a freeman of Piran, a town now in Slovenia, in a decision that has never been revoked.

Matej Muženič, a senior archivist at the Koper Regional Archives, first wrote about Mussolini being granted the honorary title by Piran in the regional newspaper Primorske Novice in October.

Even after searching the archives again, no document has been found proving Mussolini ever being stripped of the title, Muženič told the Slovenian Press Agency on 15 November.

This would mean the fascist leader responsible for the deaths and suffering of a great number of Slovenians remains a freeman of Piran.

Muženič noted the historical context in which the honorary title was awarded. "Part of our territory belonged to Italy, Fascism was thriving and the Italian-speaking population was in majority, so it is not surprising that all the prominent public figures should support awarding the title. We are obviously talking about Italian-speaking figures."

The initiators of the decision at the time described it as a plebiscitary one, supported by all the residents of the coastal city. To further support this decision, they submitted a letter from 1923, signed by a number of prominent residents.

By the end of 1924, Mussolini had been made freeman of most of Italy's municipalities, a total of 6,694, according to the newspaper Večer. The first to strip him of the title was Naples at the end of 1944, even before the end of the Second World War, followed by Matera that same year, and many others in the following years.

Mussolini remains a freeman of Trieste and in Gorizia an attempt to strip him of it failed last week, drawing condemnation and expressions of concern, including in Slovenia, especially as Gorizia will join its Slovenian neighbour Nova Gorica as the European Capital of Culture next year.

Muženič stressed the moral aspect of the decision to revoke such titles, even posthumously. Meanwhile, the Piran municipality is yet to comment on the matter.