Massimo Severo Giannini (8 March 1915 – 24 January 2000) was an Italian politician and jurist.

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] He also was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and vice president of the Higher Council for Cultural Heritage.

During the German occupation of Rome, Giannini operated in the Matteotti Brigades, under the orders of fellow jurist Giuliano Vassalli.

The action, with daring connotations, was conceived and directed by Vassalli, with the help of several partisans of the Matteotti Brigades, including Giannini, Giuseppe Gracceva, Filippo Lupis, Ugo Gala, Alfredo Monaco, and Marcella Ficca Monaco.

Thus it was possible to first pass Saragat and Pertini from the German "arm" of the prison to the Italian one and therefore to produce false release orders, drawn up by Vassalli himself.