The Legacy of a European Traditionalist Julius Evola in Perspective
To date, Evola’s work has been subjected to the silent treatment. When Evola is not ignored, he is usually vilified by leftist scholars and intellectuals, who demonize him as a bad teacher, racist, rabid anti-Semite, master mind of right-wing terrorism, fascist guru, or so filthy a racist even to touch him would be repugnant. The writer Martin Lee, whose knowledge of Evola is of the most superficial sort, called him a « Nazi philosopher » and claimed that « Evola helped compose Italy’s belated racialist laws toward the end of the Fascist rule » (4). Others have minimized his contribution altogether. Walter Laqueur, in his Fascism: Past, Present, Future, did not hesitate to call him a « learned charlatan, an eclecticist, not an innovator, » and suggested « there were elements of pure nonsense also in his later work. » (5) Umberto Eco sarcastically nicknamed Evola « Othelma, the Magician.»
