Figure 1.--Balilla was the nickname of Giovan Battista Perasso, a Genoese boy that, in 1746, threw a stone at Austrian troops holding the town. This led to a revolt wgich forced the Austrian troops from Genoa. The figure of Balilla, shrouded in the legend, was used by the Fascist regime for its children organization. Many works were dedicated to Giovan Battista Perasso during the Fascist era. Here is a statue in Genoa. We don't know the name of the sculptor. The statue was a present to the municipality of Genoa by the Turin Fine Arts Society in 1862. Balilla was already a Genoese hero. During the Fascist era he was chosen as a national hero.

The Fascist Youth organization was founded only a few months after Mussolini's march on Rome (October 1922). The initial organization was for boys 8 to 14 years of age. They were named the "Balilla" after a heroic young boy of that name. During the Austrian occupation of Genoa during 1746. The boy incited a riot against the Austrian soldiers by throwing the first stone at an artillery piece. This led to a city-wide riot that drove the Austrians out of the city. Mussolini saw the boy's courage was the perfect image for Italian youth. As the Fascist Youth organization developed, the Balilla became the name of certain age groups. The precise name of the Fascist Youth organization as a whole was the "Gioventu Italiana Del'Littorio"which meant The Fascists Youth of the Lictors. The Lictor was bundle of rods with the protruding axe blade, carried in ancient Rome by the Magistrates to demonstrate their power of life and death in the courts.