A renowned
agronomist, he fought in
World War I as
lieutenant in the 6th Heavy Artillery Regiment, earning a
Bronze Medal of Military Valour. After the war, he joined the
Fascist Party in the early 1920s. From 1928 to 1932 he was general secretary of the Fascist Confederation of Farmers, and in 1933 he became a member of the
Grand Council of Fascism, although he did not personally attend its sessions during the 1930s. In 1941, during
World War II, he volunteered for the front and was sent to
North Africa with the rank of
artillery Captain, but was recalled after a few months to be appointed president of the Fascist Confederation of Farmers and then Minister of Agriculture. He attended the Grand Council of Fascism for the first time on 25 July 1943, when he was among those who voted in favor of the
motion of no confidence against
Benito Mussolini, having been persuaded to do so by
Dino Grandi. To those who pointed out that the approval of Grandi's
order of the day would result in the resignation of the Duce, Pareschi replied "these are merely words, nothing will ever change, as usual". Even after the arrest of Benito Mussolini, considering himself a "technician" lent almost unwillingly to politics, he did not foresee desire for revenge of the Fascists and remained in
Rome, where in early October 1943, after the
Armistice of Cassibile and the German takeover, he was arrested by the authorities of the newly established
Italian Social Republic. Tried for
treason at the
Verona Trial, he was
sentenced to death and executed by
firing squad on 11 January 1944, along with
Galeazzo Ciano,
Emilio De Bono,
Luciano Gottardi and
Giovanni Marinelli. ==References==