Correspondence from the Police Chief of Palermo to Police Chief Arturo Bocchini

Police Commissioner of Palermo

Palermo, 6 June 1936—XIV.

To His Excellency the Senator

Dr. Arturo Bocchini, Knight Grand Cross

Chief of Police

Ministry of the Interior

Rome

Excellency,

The individual to whom reference is made in the note from Your Excellency that was personally handed to me is the English subject Crowley Alistair Eduard Alexander, son of Emily Bishop, born in Lemingtoer Warwihstire on 12-10-1875, who lived for about five years in a villa in the vicinity of Cefalù, and was expelled from the Kingdom following Ministerial order on 13 April 1923, it having been confirmed that rites were taking place in his villa based on obscene and perverse sexual practices, in which three female foreigners participated who were living with ham as if married, besides other foreigners who came there from time to time to meet them.

In this regard I will list the reports of this Prefecture: No. 2815 dated 25 July 1922, responding to telegram No. 17011 from 23 June preceding; No. 1260 of 26 March 1923, responding to note No. 6782 of the 5th of the same month; No. 2150 of 1 May 1923, responding to note No. 9626 of 16 April preceding.

Subsequent to Crowley's expulsion, the Political Police Division, in note No. 500/5883 of 27 June 1927, indicated that defamatory statements regarding conditions in fascist Italy were being distributed from Crowley's house in Cefalù, statements that were being collected by the special espionage service of the British Foreign Ministry and were published by some newspapers. In letter No. 14278 on 18 September following, this Prefecture responded that the aforementioned allegation was unfounded because after Crowley's departure, only one of his two women remained in Cefalù—a French citizen [Ninette Shumway]—who lived in poverty and had no relations with anybody.

In April 1934 the newspapers published reports from London about a defamation suit brought by Crowley against the writer Nina Hannet [Nina Hamnett], who in her book "Laughing Torso" presented him as a follower of black magic, whereas he had dedicated "all his effort and the considerable fortune left to him by his father—two or three million lire—to the study of white magic."

     In the documents in our archive there is no photograph of Crowley, but his features are described as follows: tall, robust, rosy complexion, brown eyes, balding on top with small lock of hair at the middle near the hairline, beard and moustache shaved, small scar on the left cheek, under the cheekbone.

Please accept, Excellency, my humble respects and consider me.

Your Excellency's most devoted

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