Raffaele Aversa (2 September 1906 – 24 March 1944) was an Italian soldier and Resistance member, most notable for having carried out the arrest of Benito Mussolini after his dismissal as Prime Minister of Italy on 25 July 1943.

In October 1930 he enrolled in the Royal Military Academy of Modena to attend a special course, at the end of which he was commissioned with the rank of second lieutenant of the Carabinieri, on 1 March 1932.

In March 1942 he was sent to the Eastern Front, attached to the 3rd Bersaglieri Regiment which was part of the 3rd Cavalry Division Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta of the CSIR; he was subsequently awarded a War Cross of Military Valor.

[1][2][3] After the fall of the Fascist regime, on 25 July 1943, together with Captain Paolo Vigneri, Aversa arrested Benito Mussolini, acting on the orders of Lieutenant Colonel Giovanni Frignani.

Imprisoned in the SS prison of Via Tasso, he was tortured for two months for information about the Resistance, but did not talk, and on 23 March 1944 he was shot in the Fosse Ardeatine massacre.