On April 10, 2024, Italy issued a stamp to mark the 80th anniversary of the death of the philosopher, educator and fascist Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944). Gentile was Minister of Education in the cabinet of Prime Minister and later dictator Benito Mussolini from 1922 to 1924. With the “Lex Gentile” law initiated by Gentile in 1923, school lessons in Italian became compulsory as of 1925/26. This was primarily directed against the German and Ladin minorities in South Tyrol in the spirit of “Italianization”. The law led to the so-called and “illegal” catacomb schools in South Tyrol, in which lessons were in parallel held underground in the mother tongue. Gentile was later no longer part of the Mussolini apparatus, but remained a fascist. In 1944 he was shot dead, presumably by communist partisans.

The stamp issue led to criticism in Italy and especially in South Tyrol. There, the issue of the stamp was harshly criticized by the South Tyrolean Rifle Association, the regional majority party „Südtiroler Volkspartei“ (South Tyrolean People's Party) and the „Südtiroler Freiheitspartei“ (South Tyrolean Freedom Party). The statements included “not appropriate for a cultural nation”, “unacceptable”, “an indictment of the Italian postal service”, “an affront to South Tyrol”, “need to finally coming to terms with a dark history”, “more than a poor re-appraisal”, “a sad climax”, “in no way tolerable”. On the part of the issuing post office and the Italian government, on the other hand, the stamp is regarded a tribute to the influential “philosopher” Gentile. Italy had already issued a stamp to mark the 50th anniversary of Gentile's death in 1994.