Fiume, 1919: Gabriele D´Annunzio, Italian poet, novelist, and dramatist with a great influence on the Italian Fascist movement, was the most controversial and extravagant artist in Italy at that time (even more controversial, extravagant and popular than Marinetti). On 12 September 1919 he led the seizure of Fiume (now Rijeka in Croatia) by Italian nationalist troops. D´Annunzio declared the city an independent state, where he ruled as a dictator for eighteen months. Unbelievable road: from a poet to a nationalist to a dictator.