Julius Evola and Tradition

Abstract

This chapter discusses the life and work of the Italian philosopher Julius Evola, who started his career in Futurism and Dadaism. Philosophic studies followed. After serving in the First World War he turned to mountaineering, experimented with ether, and nearly committed suicide. Far Eastern religions and esoteric currents became his next interest. He was introduced to René Guénon’s idea of tradition, which became the source of his political and racial ideas. He met Mussolini and members of the SS, who remained skeptical. After the Second World War, Evola wrote and translated. His elitist, antidemocratic political tracts based on transcendent ideas at first brought him only a few followers, some of whom turned to terrorist acts. He died lonely and frustrated in Rome. His revival started only in the 1980s; since then he has become one of the most widely read thinkers of the radical Right.