Mussolini's granddaughter wants law change

ROME, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- The granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, who was known as "Il Duce," wants Italian law changed so that her children can have their mother's surname.

"We are the ones who go through labor," she said. "Why can't we give our names?"

Currently, women in Italy cannot give their last names to their children, without a tedious legal battle -- a battle Alessandra Mussolini took on so she could name her three children Mussolini -- in a compound name with her husband's surname -- a move her husband approves, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Although some may have chosen not to give their children the name of a fascist dictator who was hung by Italian partisans at the end of World War II, Alessandra Mussolini says eventually Italy will be forced to relax some of its most conservative rules.

The Italian Constitution requires a newborn to automatically be given the father's surname. The mother's name is only used when the father's name is unknown, unlike Germany where parents can chose what surname their children will have. Under Spanish law, a child is given both parents' names.