Italian Astrophysicists

Paolo Maffei (1926-2009)

Italian astrophysicist and astronomer. He was one of the pioneers of infrared astronomy research. He discovered two galaxies through infrared analysis. The two galaxies were named after him: Maffei-1 and Maffei-2.

Riccardo Giacconi (1931-2018)

Italian Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who laid down the foundations of X-ray astronomy. The Asteroid 3371 Giacconi is named in his honour.

Franco Pacini (1939-2012)

Italian astrophysicist and professor. He was the first to suggest that strongly magnetized neutron stars could release their rotational energy and produce a large flow of relativistic particles. The discovery of pulsars proved the correctness of his hypothesis. Asteroid 25601 Francopacini is named after him.

Angioletta Coradini (1946-2011)

Italian astrophysicist, planetary scientist and one of the most important figures in the space sciences in Italy.

Patrizia Caraveo (b. 1954)

Italian astrophysicist. She was among the first to understand the fundamental role of neutron stars in particle physics. She took part in the development of multi-wavelength observations that led to the discovery and understanding of the neutron star Geminga. She also developed a multi-wavelength strategy for the identification of galactic gamma-ray sources, and contributed to the first direct measurement of the magnetic field of an isolated neutron star.

Luciano Rezzolla (b. 1967)

Italian astrophysicist. Together with collaborators he demonstrated that r-modes in a neutron star will generate differential rotation, which could amplify the magnetic field and suppress the instability. He and his collaborators also showed that the merger of magnetised neutron stars leads to the formation of a black hole and highly magnetised torus from which a magnetic jet structure develops which provides a link between the theoretical modelling and observation of a jet in short gamma-ray bursts.

Gianluca Masi (b. 1972)

Italian astrophysicist and astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 26 minor planets. He also started the Virtual Telescope project, enabling more than 1 million individuals each year to observe the sky in real-time over the Internet. The Nysian asteroid 21795 Masi is named in his honour.

Marica Branchesi (b. 1977)

Italian astrophysicist. Her leadership and scientific work was pivotal for Virgo/LIGO's discovery of gravitational waves.

Italian Astronomers

Major Italian Astronomers

Jacopo Dondi dell'Orologio (1290-1359)

Italian physician, astronomer and clock-maker. He is remembered today as a pioneer in the art of clock design and construction, having supervised the construction of the astronomical clock in Padua—the first mechanical clock in the world and one of the world's oldest working clocks.

Giovanni Dondi dell'Orologio (c. 1330-1388)

Italian physician, astronomer and mechanical engineer. He is remembered today as a pioneer in the art of clock design and construction, having designed and built a highly complex astronomical clock and planetarium known as the Astrarium, which was an ambitious attempt to describe and model the planetary system with mathematical precision and technological sophistication.

Luigi Lilio or Aloysius Lilius (c. 1510-1574)

Italian physician, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and chronologist. He was the primary author who provided the proposal which became the basis of the Gregorian Calendar. In computer science, the Lilian date is the number of days since the adoption of the Gregorian calendar on October 15, 1582. The crater Lilius on the Moon is also named after him, as is the asteroid 2346 Lilio.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

Galileo Galilei was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher whose achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter (named the Galilean moons in his honour), and the observation and analysis of sunspots. He also worked in applied science and technology, inventing an improved military compass and other instruments. He has been referred to as the “Father of modern physics” and “the Father of Modern Science”.

Niccolò Zucchi (1586-1670)

Italian astronomer, physicist and Jesuit priest. As an astronomer he may have been the first to see the belts on the planet Jupiter in 1630, and reported spots on Mars in 1640. His "Optica philosophia experimentis et ratione a fundamentis constituta" described his experiments using a curved mirror instead of a lens as a telescope objective, which may be the earliest known description of a reflecting telescope. He also demonstrated that phosphors generate rather than store light.

Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598-1671)

Italian astronomer and Jesuit priest known, among other things, for his experiments with pendulums and with falling bodies, for his discussion of 126 arguments concerning the motion of the Earth, and for introducing the current scheme of lunar nomenclature. He is also widely known for discovering the first double star.

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608-1679)

Italian mathematician, astronomer, physiologist, physicist and philosopher. He contributed to the modern principle of scientific investigation by continuing Galileo's practice of testing hypotheses against observation. Although his major scientific achievements are focused around his investigation into biomechanics, he also made extensive studies of Jupiter's moons, the mechanics of animal locomotion and, in microscopy, of the constituents of blood.

Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1712)

Cassini was an Italian mathematician, astronomer and engineer known most notably for having discovered four satellites of the planet Saturn and noted the division of the rings of Saturn (with the Cassini Division being named after him). He was also the first of his family to begin work on the project of creating a topographic map of France. Launched in 1997, the Cassini spaceprobe was named after him and became the fourth to visit Saturn and the first to orbit the planet.

Giuseppe Luigi Lagrangia or Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813)

Italian mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the fields of physics, analysis, calculus, algebra, number theory, group theory, and both classical and celestial mechanics. As an astronomer, his attempt to solve the general three-body problem led to discovering the two constant-pattern solutions, collinear and equilateral. These solutions were later seen to explain what are now known as the Lagrangian points.

Giuseppe Piazzi (1746-1826)

Italian astronomer, mathematician and Catholic priest. He established an observatory at Palermo, now the Palermo Astronomical Observatory, and completed the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte in Naples. His most famous discovery was the first dwarf planet, Ceres. He also supervised the compilation of the Palermo Catalogue of stars, containing 7,646 star entries with unprecedented precision, including the star named “Garnet Star” by William Herschel, and the original Rotanev and Sualocin. The star system 61 Cygni is sometimes still called “Piazzi's Flying Star”.

Giovanni Battista Amici (1786-1863)

Amici was an Italian astronomer, microscopist and botanist. His name is best known for the improvements he effected in the mirrors of reflecting telescopes and especially in the construction of the microscope. He busied himself not only with astronomical subjects, such as the double stars, the satellites of Jupiter and the measurement of the polar and equatorial diameters of the sun, but also with biological studies of the circulation of the sap in plants, the fructification of plants, infusoria etc. He was the first to observe the pollen tube. He also invented the dipleidoscope and the direct vision prism. The crater Amici on the Moon is named in his honour.

Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835-1910)

Italian astronomer and science historian. He worked with binary stars, discovered the asteroid 69 Hesperia, and demonstrated that the Perseids and Leonids meteor showers were associated with comets. He proved that the orbit of the Leonids meteor shower coincided with that of the Comet Tempel-Tuttle. These observations led the astronomer to formulate the hypothesis, subsequently proved to be very exact, that the meteor showers could be the trails of comets. He was also the first to realize that the concentric spheres of Eudoxus of Cnidus and Callippus were not to be taken as material objects, but only as part of an algorithm similar to the modern Fourier series.

Angelo Secchi (1818-1878)

Italian astronomer and Jesuit priest. He was a pioneer in astronomical spectroscopy, and was one of the first scientists to state authoritatively that the Sun is a star. He invented the Secchi disk, which is used to measure water transparency in oceans, lakes and fish farms. He also invented a Meteorograph for the convenient recording of several categories of weather data. The lunar crater Secchi and the Martian crater Secchi are both named after him, as is a main belt asteroid, 4705 Secchi.

Annibale De Gasparis (1819-1892)

De Gasparis was an Italian astronomer who discovered nine asteroids: 10 Hygiea, 11 Parthenope, 13 Egeria, 15 Eunomia, 16 Psyche, 20 Massalia, 24 Themis, 63 Ausonia, 83 Beatrix. In addition, he also independently discovered 14 Irene, which was incorrectly credited to the English astronomer John Russell Hind. The main-belt asteroid 4279 De Gasparis as well as the 30-kilometer lunar crater de Gasparis and the nearby 93-kilometer long fracture Rimae de Gasparis, are named in his honour.

Giovanni Battista Donati (1826-1873)

Italian astronomer. He was a pioneer in the spectroscopic study of the stars, the Sun, and comets. In his 1862 memoir "Intorno alle strie degli spettri stellari" he indicated the feasibility of a physical classification of the stars. Donati also used spectroscopy of comets to determine their physical composition. He discovered that the spectrum changed when a comet approached the Sun, and that heating caused it to emit its own light rather than reflected sunlight: he concluded that the composition of comets is, at least in part, gaseous.

Annibale Riccò (1844-1919)

Italian astronomer. During his career he performed research into sunspots, and he participated in four solar eclipse expeditions, leading the expeditions in 1905 and 1914. He discovered Ricco's Law, an important principle of vision science. The crater Ricco on the Moon is named after him, as is the asteroid 18462 Ricco.

Riccardo Giacconi (1931-2018)

Riccardo Giacconi was an Italian Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who laid down the foundations of X-ray astronomy. The Asteroid 3371 Giacconi is named in his honour.


Minor Italian Astronomers

Restoro d'Arezzo (13th century)

Italian monk, astronomer and cosmographic writer. His "Composizione del Mondo" was the first astronomical work to be written in the Italian language.

Campano da Novara or Campanus of Novara (c. 1220-1296)

Italian mathematician, astronomer and physician. He geometrically described the motions of the planets as well as their longitude. He also included instructions on building a planetary equatorium as well as its geometrical description. He also attempted to determine the time of each planet's retrograde motion. The crater Campanus on the Moon is named after him.

Giuseppe Biancani (1566-1624)

Italian astronomer, mathematician, selenographer and Jesuit priest. His works included studies on the natural phenomenon of the echo and on sundials, as well as a diagram of the Moon. The crater Blancanus on the Moon is named after him.

Mario Bettini (1582-1657)

Italian philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and Jesuit priest. The lunar crater Bettinus is named after him.

Giovanni Battista Baliani (1582-1666)

Italian mathematician, physicist and astronomer. He was the first to enunciate the law of acceleration of a body and to distinguish between mass and weight.

Cristoforo Borri (1583-1632)

Italian mathematician, astronomer, missionary and Jesuit priest. Borri made observations on the magnetic variation of the compass. He also drew up the first chart for the Atlantic and Indian Oceans showing the spots where the magnetic needle makes the same angles with the meridian, before Edmund Halley.

Gerolamo Sersale (1584-1654)

Italian astronomer, selenographer and Jesuit priest. He drew a fairly precise map of a full moon in July 1650. The lunar crater Sirsalis is named after him.

Francesco Sizzi (1585-1618)

Italian astronomer. He is credited with being the first to notice the annual movement of sunspots.

Giovanni Battista Zupi (c. 1589-1667)

Italian astronomer, mathematician and Jesuit priest. He was the first person to discover that the planet Mercury had orbital phases. His observations demonstrated that the planet orbited around the Sun. The crater Zupus on the Moon is named after him.

Giovanni Battista Odierna (1597-1660)

Italian astronomer, architect and Catholic priest. He was one of the first to compile a catalogue of comets, nebulae and star clusters. This catalogue contained some 40 entries, including at least 19 real and verifiable nebulous objects. Many of his discoveries were later incorrectly attributed to others, including Messier 47 and the Triangulum Galaxy.

Geminiano Montanari (1633-1687)

Italian astronomer, mathematician, inventor and economist. He is best known for his observation that the second-brightest star (Algol) in the constellation of Perseus varied in brightness. He drew an accurate map of the Moon using an ocular micrometer of his own making. He also made observations on capillarity and other problems in statics, and suggested that the viscosity of a liquid depended on the shape of its molecules. A crater on the Moon is named after him.

Francesco Bianchini (1662-1729)

Bianchini was an Italian philosopher and scientist who was secretary of the commission for the reform of the Gregorian Calendar, working on the method to calculate the astronomically correct date for Easter. He constructed an important meridian line in the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome for calculating the position of the sun and stars. Craters on Mars and the Moon are named in his honour.

Giacomo Filippo Maraldi (1665-1729)

Italian astronomer and mathematician. His most famous astronomical discovery was that the ice caps on Mars are not exactly on the rotational poles of that body. He also recognized that the corona visible during a solar eclipse belongs to the Sun not to the Moon, and he discovered R Hydrae as a variable star. He is also credited for the first observation (in 1723) of what is usually referred to as Poisson's spot. In mathematics he is most known for obtaining the angle in the rhombic dodecahedron shape in 1712, which is still called the Maraldi angle. Craters on the Moon and Mars were named in honour of him and his nephew Giovanni Domenico Maraldi.

Giovanni Domenico Maraldi (1709-1788)

Italian astronomer. He discovered globular clusters M15 and M2. The lunar crater Maraldi was named after him and his uncle Giacomo Filippo Maraldi.

Domenico Troili (1722-1792)

Italian astronomer and Jesuit priest. He is recognized as the first person who documented the fall of a meteorite, in 1766.

Barnaba Oriani (1752-1832)

Italian scientist, astronomer, geodesist and Catholic priest. He made considerable research in the areas of astronomic refraction, the obliquity of the ecliptic and orbital theory. His greatest achievement was his detailed research of the planet Uranus.

Niccolò Cacciatore (1770-1841)

Italian astronomer and meteorologist. His most notable observation was the discovery of globular cluster NGC 6541.

Giovanni Antonio Amedeo Plana (1781-1864)

Italian astronomer and mathematician. Considered one of the premiere Italian scientists of his age. His contributions included work on the motions of the Moon, as well as integrals, (including the Abel–Plana formula), elliptic functions, heat, electrostatics, and geodesy. The crater Plana on the Moon is named in his honour.

Francesco de Vico (1805-1848)

Italian astronomer and a Jesuit priest. He found a remarkable number of comets in a relatively short time, including periodic comets 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT and 122P/de Vico. He also independently discovered the comet that brought fame to Maria Mitchell as "Miss Mitchell's Comet", two days after she did. Since the news had not yet reached Europe (nor De Vico), the comet was initially named after him. For this he received an award for the first comet discovered through a telescope. He also made observations of Saturn and the gaps in its rings, being the first to see the narrow division in the rings of Saturn now known as the Keeler Gap. The lunar crater De Vico and the asteroid 20103 de Vico are named after him.

Alessandro Serpieri (1823-1885)

Italian scientist known for work in astronomy and seismology. Serpieri's chief merits as an astronomer rest in the observation of shooting stars. In August 1850 he discovered that the August meteors originate in a radiant not far removed from Gamma Persei. His studies helped Giovanni Schiaparelli in the formulation of his theory on shooting stars. The asteroid 70745 Aleserpieri was named after him.

Antonio Abetti (1846-1928)

Italian astronomer. In 1874 he was part of an expedition led by Pietro Tacchini to observe a transit of Venus with a spectroscope. He also observed as many as 121 comets and 798 planets. The crater Abetti on the Moon and the minor planet 2646 Abetti are named in honor both him and his son Giorgio Abetti

Elia Millosevich (1848-1919)

Elia Filippo Francesco Giuseppe Maria Millosevich was an Italian astronomer who specialized in calculating the orbits of comets and asteroids, in particular 433 Eros. He discovered the astroids 303 Josephina and 306 Unitas. The main-belt asteroid 69961 Millosevich is named in his memory.

Vincenzo Cerulli (1859-1927)

Italian astronomer. He observed Mars and developed the theory that the Martian canals were not real but an optical illusion, a theory that was later confirmed. He also discovered one asteroid: 704 Interamnia. The Martian crater Cerulli as well as the asteroids 366 Vincentina and 31028 Cerulli are named in his honour.

Giorgio Abetti (1882-1982)

Italian solar astronomer. He is noted for having led expeditions to observe solar eclipses to Siberia (1936) and Sudan (1952). The crater Abetti on the Moon and asteroid 2646 Abetti are named in honor both him and his father Antonio Abetti.

Paolo Maffei (1926-2009)

Italian astrophysicist and astronomer. He was one of the pioneers of infrared astronomy research. He discovered two galaxies through infrared analysis. The two galaxies were named after him: Maffei-1 and Maffei-2.

Paul G. Comba (1926-2017)

Italian computer scientist, mathematician and astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 685 minor planets.

Luciano Tesi (b. 1931)

Italian veterinarian and astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 190 minor planets. The near-Earth object and Amor asteroid 15817 Lucianotesi is named in his honour.

Vittorio Goretti (1939-2016)

Italian teacher and astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 32 main-belt asteroids. The main-belt asteroid 7801 Goretti is named in his honour.

Vincenzo Silvano Casulli (1944-2018)

Silvano Casulli was an Italian amateur astronomer who is credited with the discovery of 192 minor planets. He was the first amateur astronomer to obtain precise astronometric positions of minor planets using a CCD camera. The inner main-belt asteroid 7132 Casulli is named in his honour.

Giovanni de Sanctis (b. 1949)

Italian astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 42 minor planets. The Vestian asteroid 3268 De Sanctis was named in his honour.

Augusto Testa (b. 1950)

Italian astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 31 minor planets.

Maura Tombelli (b. 1952)

Italian astronomer. She is a prolific discoverer of almost 200 minor planets, including the main-belt asteroid 7794 Sanvito. She is known as the only Italian female astrometrist. She contributed to the discovery of 15817 Lucianotesi, the first NEO found from Italy. The main-belt asteroid 9904 Mauratombelli is named in her honour.

Piero Sicoli (b. 1954)

Italian astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 43 minor planets. The Nysa asteroid 7866 Sicoli is named in his honour.

Ulisse Munari (b. 1960)

Italian astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 49 minor planets. The asteroid 7599 Munari is named in his honour.

Francesco Manca (b. 1966)

Italian astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 26 minor planets. The Koronian asteroid 15460 Manca is named in his honour.

Andrea Boattini (b. 1969)

Italian astronomer. He is a prolific discoverer of 298 minor planets and 25 comets. Asteroid 8925 Boattini is named in his honour.

Gianluca Masi (b. 1972)

Italian astrophysicist and astronomer. He is credited with the discovery of 26 minor planets. He also started the Virtual Telescope project, enabling more than 1 million individuals each year to observe the sky in real-time over the Internet. The Nysian asteroid 21795 Masi is named in his honour.

Italian Theologians

Flavius Iustinus or Justin Martyr (100-165)
Tertullian (c. 155-230)
Lactantius (c. 250-325)
Aurelius Ambrosius or Ambrose (340-397)
Sofronius Eusebius Hieronymus or Jerome (347-420)
Aurelius Augustinus or Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
Leo the Great (c. 390-461)
Boethius (477-524)
Cassiodorus (c. 485-580)
Gregorius Anicius or Gregory the Great (540-604)
Paulinus II of Aquileia (c. 750-802)
Pietro Lombardo or Peter Lombard (1096-1160)
Bonaventure (1221-1274)
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Ambrogio Traversari (1386-1439)
Antonino da Firenze or Antoninus of Florence (1389-1459)
Tommaso De Vio or Thomas Cajetan (1469-1534)
Roberto Bellarmino (1542-1621)
Lorenzo da Brindisi or Lawrence of Brindisi (1559-1619)
Michelangelo Tamburini (1648-1730)
Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1692-1769)
Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori (1696-1787)
Pietro Ballerini (1698-1769) and Girolamo Ballerini (1701-1781)
Ruggiero Giuseppe Boscovich (1711-1787)
Francesco Antonio Zaccaria (1714-1795)
Domenico Barberi (1792-1849)
Antonio Rosmini-Serbati (1797-1855)
Giuseppe Pecci (1807-1890)
Carlo Maria Curci (1810-1891)
Matteo Liberatore (1810-1892)

Italian Ceramists and Potters

Luca della Robbia (c. 1400-1482)

Remembered for inventing the technique of producing colorful, tin-glazed terracotta statuary. His most famous works are the Nativity in glazed terracotta, the Madonna and Child in glazed terracotta and the Cantoria for the Florence Cathedral.

Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525)

Sculptor and ceramicist. Remembered for his terracotta sculptures. His works include the Madonna with Child and Angels in glazed terracotta, the Crucifixion of Christ in glazed terracotta and the Assumption of Mary in glazed terracotta, among many others

Giorgio Andreoli (c. 1465-1553)

Artist and potter. Considered one of the most important potters of the Italian Renaissance. He invented a particular kind of lusterware, using red and gold.

Giovanni della Robbia (1469-1529)

Sculptor and ceramicist. He created numerous works throughout Tuscany, including tondi, lunettes, tabernacles and panels.

Nicola da Urbino (c. 1480-1537)

Painter and ceramist. Remembered for introducing the new istoriato style into painted maiolica.

Francesco Xanto Avelli (c. 1486-1542)

Ceramist and poet. One of the most important ceramists of the Italian Renaissance. Best known for his historical plates.
Girolamo della Robbia (1488-1566)

Sculptor and ceramicist. Among his most famous pieces are the Tabernacle of Fonticine and the Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist in Florence.

Guido Fontana (1490-1576)

Ceramist and painter. His best known work is the maiolica service for Anne de Montmorency.

Orazio Fontana (1510-1571)

Potter and maiolica painter. Remembered for introducing istoriato maiolica to Urbino.

Antonio Brilla (1813-1891)

Sculptor and ceramicist. Remembered for his prolific religious-themed works.

Michele Sansebastiano (1852-1908)

Sculptor and potter. His works were made in terracotta and stucco.

Italian Luthiers

Major Italian Luthiers

Andrea Amati (1505-1577) – Credited with inventing the first violin. Founder of the Cremonese School of violin-making.

Gasparo Bertolotti or Gasparo da Salò (1540-1609) – One of the earliest violin-makers. Founder of the Brescian School of violin-making.

Giovanni Paolo Maggini (1580-1630) – One of the best known violin-makers of the Brescian School.

Nicola Amati (1596-1684) – One of the best known luthiers of the Amati family. Teacher of the illustrious luthiers of the Cremonese School, possibly including Antonio Stradivari.

Francesco Ruggieri (c. 1630-1698) – He was the first to develop a smaller cello design, which has become the standard for modern cello dimensions. His masterfully-constructed instruments are considered nearly as renowned as Nicolò Amati's instruments.

Andrea Guarneri (1626-1698) – Founder of the Guarneri family of distinguished luthiers in Cremona. His Conte Vitale viola of 1676 is one of the most copied viola patterns today.

Giovanni Grancino (1637-1709) – One of the early Milanese luthiers. His violins, violas, cellos and double basses are considered among the most superior instruments of the Milanese School.

Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) – Universally recognized as the greatest luthier in history. His instruments, known as Stradivarius, are regarded as amongst the finest bowed stringed instruments ever created, are highly prized, and are still played by professionals today.

Pietro Giovanni Guarneri or Pietro da Mantova (1655-1720) – Today his instruments are highly regarded, though quite rare.

Carlo Bergonzi (1683-1747) – The first and most noted member of the illustrious Bergonzi family of luthiers from Cremona. Today his instruments are highly valued for their workmanship and tone.

Domenico Montagnana (1686-1650) – Regarded as one of the finest violin and cello makers of his time. His instruments, particularly his cellos, are extremely sought after by orchestras, musicians, collectors and museums.

Pietro II Guarneri or Pietro da Venezia (1695-1762) – The last violin-maker of the illustrious Guarneri family of luthiers. His instruments are rare and very highly prized.

Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744) – Universally recognized as one of the greatest luthiers of all time. He is the only other maker whose instruments are accorded a respect and reverence equal to Stradivari. For many prominent players and collectors his instruments are considered even more coveted than Stradivari's.

Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1711-1786) – Regarded as one of the finest craftsmen of string instruments in history. He is widely considered the third greatest maker after Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù.

Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi (c. 1714-1787) – Considered among the finest stringed instrument makers in history, together with Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesu and Guadagnini.


Minor Italian Luthiers

Giovan Giacomo Dalla Corna (c. 1485-1560) – One of the earliest luthiers of the Brescian School.

Zanetto Micheli (c. 1489-1560) – The first representative of the oldest known family of string instrument makers from Brescian School.

Pellegrino Micheli (c. 1520-1607) – One of the most important figures in the early history of the violin. He was one of the first makers of the Brescian School.

Antonio Amati (c. 1540-1607) and Girolamo Amati (1561-1630) – Brothers whose instruments, modeled on those of their father Andrea Amati, were widely copied in Italy, the Netherlands and England.

Mattia Albani (1634-1673) – Founder of a dynasty of violin makers. Violins built by the Albani family were played by Arcangelo Corelli.

Giovanni Battista Rogeri (c. 1642-1710) – One of the major makers of the Brescan School.

Alessandro Gagliano (1660-1728) – Founder of the Neapolitan School of violin making.

Vincenzo Ruggieri (1663-1719) – His instruments are noted for their craftsmanship and tone quality.

Carlo Giuseppe Testore (c. 1665-1738) – Especially valued for his double basses.

Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri (c. 1666-1740) – Violin maker from the prominent Guarneri family of luthiers.

Carlo Annibale Tononi (1675-1730) – One of the foremost makers of the Venetian School.

Carlo Antonio Testore (1687-1765) – Maker of violins and cellos noted for their excellent tonal quality.

Nicolò Gagliano (1695-1758) – He made many admirable instruments, which were often imitated. Some have been mistaken for those of Stradivari. His work represents the pinnacle of Neapolitan violin-making.

Santo Serafin or Sanctus Seraphin (1699-1776) – His work is among the most attractive and refined of the Venetian school, and the tone quality and materials are generally superb. Cellos are especially sought-after.

Lorenzo Storioni (1744-1816) – One of the last master violin makers of the Cremonese School.

Pasquale Vinaccia (1806-1885) – Official instrument-maker for the Queen of Italy. He improved the mandolin, known today as the Neapolitan Mandolin. His use of steel strings has become the dominant way of stringing mandolins.

Gaetano Sgarabotto (1878-1959) and Pietro Sgarabotto (1903-1990) – Father and son dynasty of luthiers who profoundly influenced the violin making schools of Parma, Cremona and elsewhere.

Italian Admirals

Major Italian Admirals

Gaius Duilius (3rd century BC) – Roman politician and admiral in the First Punic War. He obtained a stunning victory in the Battle of Mylae (260 BC), capturing several enemy vessels, including Hannibal Gisco's flagship. That battle marked Rome's first naval victory in history.

Lucullus (117-56 BC) – Roman politician and general. He spent more than twenty years in near continuous military and government service, becoming the main conqueror of the Pontic and Armanian kingdoms in the course of the Third Mithridatic War, where he exhibited extraordinary generalship, most famously during the Siege of Cyzicus (73-72 BC) and at the Battle of Tigranocerta (69 BC). His command style received favourable attention from ancient military experts, and his campaigns were studied as examples of skillful generalship. As a fleet commander he also won several victories at sea, most notably the Battle of Tenedos (73 BC).

Pompey the Great (106-48 BC) – Roman general and statesman. In a massive and concerted campaign, Pompey cleared the seas from Cilician pirates in only three months. He cleared the western Mediterranean in forty days and cleared the eastern Mediterranean in the same amount of time. This was the end of piracy in the Mediterranean Sea.

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (c. 63-12 BC) – Roman statesman, general and architect. In 36 BC, during the Sicilian Revolt, Agrippa and his men won decisive victories at Mylae and Naulochus, destroying all but seventeen of Sextus Pompey's ships and compelling most of his forces to surrender. He received the unprecedented honour of a naval crown decorated with the beaks of ships; according to Cassius Dio this was a decoration given to nobody before nor since. The victory at the Battle of Actium (31 BC), the last naval battle of the Roman Republic which gave Octavian Augustus sole mastery over Rome and the Mediterranean world, was mainly due to Agrippa's command.

Nero Claudius Drusus (38-9 BC) – Roman general and politician. In 12 BC Drusus ordered the construction of a fleet of 1,000 ships and sailed them along the Rhine into the North Sea. The Frisii and Chauci had nothing to oppose the superior numbers, tactics and technology of the Romans. When these entered the river mouths of Weser and Ems, the local tribes had to surrender. His achievements—navigating the North Sea, carrying the Roman eagles into new territory, and fixing new peoples into treaty relations with Rome—were commemorated on coins.

Flavius Julius Crispus (c. 302-326) – Roman general and Caesar of the Roman Empire. At the Battle of the Hellespont (324 AD) the 200 ships under his command managed to decisively defeat the enemy forces of Licinius, despite being outnumbered at least 2 to 1. Crispus thus achieved his most important and difficult victory which further established his reputation as a brilliant general.

Pietro II Orseolo (961-1009) − 26th Doge of Venice and Duke of Dalmatia. He initiated the period of eastern expansion of the Republic of Venice that would last for the next 500 years. He defeated the Narentine pirates that had infested the Adriatic Sea and liberated the Latin coastal cities of Istria and Dalmatia. He also founded the Festa della Sensa (Ascension Festival)—the oldest festival in Venice—and the Marriage of the Sea ceremony to symbolize the maritime dominion of Venice.

Ruggiero di Lauria (1250-1305) – Italian admiral. He commanded the fleet of the Crown of Aragon during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. He is considered the most successful and talented naval tactician of the Middle Ages.

Enrico Dandolo (c. 1107-1205) – 41st Doge of Venice. Despite being in his 90's and blind, he commanded the crusader fleet in the capture of Constantinople (1204). His subsequent conquest of the Byzantine Empire laid the foundations of the Venetian colonial empire.

Vettor Pisani (1324-1380) – Italian admiral. He commanded the Venetian fleet during the War of Chioggia (1378-1381) against the Genoese, whom he defeated off Capo d'Anzio. Subsequently he recaptured Cattaro, Sebenico and Arbe, which had been seized by the Hungarians. Together with Carlo Zeno, he is often regarded as the greatest admiral the Republic of Venice ever had.

Carlo Zeno (1333-1418) – Italian admiral and Venetian war hero. He first distinguished himself in battle against the Turks at Patras. During the War of Chioggia (1378-1381), he commanded 18 galleys and saved Venice from the Genoese siege in 1380. Together with Vettor Pisano, he is considered one of the most brilliant admirals in the history of the Republic of Venice.

Pietro Mocenigo (1406-1476) – 70th Doge of Venice. In 1470 he assumed command of 73 galleys which Venice built in just 12 days. He commanded the fleet during the First Ottoman-Venetian War (1463-1479), capturing Antalya and Smyrna in 1472. He defeated the Ottoman navy at Scutari in 1474 and annexed Cyprus to the Republic of Venice in 1475. He died in 1476 due to contracting malaria during a military campaign. He was one of the greatest Venetian admirals and revived the fortunes of the Venetian Navy.

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) – Italian explorer and navigator. Best known for his four transatlantic voyages (1492-93, 1493-96, 1498-1500, 1502-04) which opened the way for European exploration of the New World. In April 1492 he obtained the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea.

Andrea Doria (1466-1560) – Italian admiral and condottiero. Regarded as one of the greatest admirals in history. He first gained notoriety as a naval commander in 1503, when he fought in service of the Genoese navy and expelled the French from Corsica. For several years he scoured the Mediterranean in command of the Genoese fleet, waging war on the Turks and the Barbary pirates, defeating them at the Battle of Pianosa (1519). His expulsion of the French from Genoa and restoration of the Genoese Republic in 1528 earned him the title Liberator et Pater Patriae (Liberator and Father of His Country). He captured Corone and Patras from the Ottomans in 1532. In 1538 he led the fleet of the Holy League at the Battle of Preveza. He also participated in the Conquest of Tunis (1535), the Battle of Girolata (1540), the Algiers expedition (1541) and the Battle of Ponza (1552).

Sebastiano Venier (c. 1496-1578) – 87th Doge of Venice. He commanded the Venetian contingent at Battle of Lepanto (1571), during which the Holy League decisively defeated the Turks.

Agostino Barbarigo (1518-1571) – Italian admiral from the Republic of Venice. He commanded the left wing of the Christian fleet at Battle of Lepanto (1571). His galleys were victorious, but he was mortally wounded after being shot in the eye by an enemy arrow. Despite his wound, he continued to fight as long as he could. He died of the wound two days later.

Marcantonio II Colonna (1535-1584) – Italian nobleman and admiral. Best remembered for his role as commander of the Papal fleet in the Battle of Lepanto (1571), during which he rescued the flagship of Don Juan of Austria. With the help of Colonna, the Turks were pushed off Don Juan's ship and the Ottoman flagship was boarded and swept: the entire crew of the Ottoman flagship was killed, including the Ottoman commander.

Francesco Morosini (1619-1694) – 108th Doge of Venice. Considered one of the greatest admirals of all time. He took part in the Battle of Valona (1638), in which the Venetians destroyed the fleet of Algerian and Tunisian pirates. He rose to prominence during the Siege of Candia (1648-1669), the second longest siege in history, which lasted 21 years. Between 1683-1687 he won numerous victories against the Ottoman Empire, conquering islands and fortresses which were considered impregnable. He conquered the island of Santa Maura (Leucadia) in 1684; he occupied Corone and the Maina in 1685; he captured Navarino (Pylos), Modone (Methoni), Nauplia (Nafplio) and Argos in 1686; by 1687 he has reconquered nearly the entire Morea (Peloponnese) from the Turks; he subsequently captured Patras, Lepanto, Corinth and Athens. He was a great naval strategist who participated in many daring military actions and was undefeated at sea.

Angelo Emo (1731-1792) – Considered the greatest Venetian admiral of his time. He was the last admiral of the Republic of Venice to lead the Venetian navy in battle. He led a Venetian squadron in the Aegean during the Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774) and in 1770-1771 led a campaign against the Dulcigno pirates in the Ionian Islands He also led raids against the Beylik of Tunis (1784-1788) in retaliation for Barbary attacks on Venetian shipping. Girolamo Dandolo referred to him as "the last roar issued by the Lion of San Marco on the sea".

Francesco Caracciolo (1752-1799) – Italian admiral and Duke of Brienza. Regarded as the greatest Italian admiral of the 18th century. He fought with distinction in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), against the Barbary pirates, and against the French at the Battle of Genoa (1795).

Felice Napoleone Canevaro (1838-1926) – Italian admiral and politician. Best known for his actions during the Second and Third Italian War of Independence (1859; 1866) and later as commander of the International Squadron off Crete (1897-1898). Twice decorated with the Silver Medal of Military Valor, first for his courageous attempt to board the Bourbon steam ship-of-the-line Monarca (1860), and second for his conduct during the Battle of Lissa (1866).

Paolo Camillo Thaon di Revel (1859-1948) – Italian admiral and politician. Best known as Chief of Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Royal Navy during World War I (1915-1918). During the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) he scored a notable naval victory at the Battle of Beirut (1912). In the late days of World War I he led the bombardment of Durazzo (1918) and the rapid occupation of the coasts of Istria and Dalmatia. Awarded the honorary title of 1st Duke of the Sea and the highest rank of Grand Admiral—the only man in Italian naval history to receive this distinction.

Luigi Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta (1873-1933) – Italian explorer, mountaineer, admiral and Duke of the Abruzzi. Best known for his Arctic explorations and for his mountaineering expeditions, particularly to Mount Saint Elias in Alaska-Yukon and K2 in Pakistan-China. During his Arctic expedition (1899-1900) he set a new world record by reaching latitude 86°34′ N. He also served as Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Fleet during World War I (1915-1918). Under his command the Italian Navy was responsible for saving the Serbian Army.

Antonio Legnani (1888-1943) – Italian admiral. He participated in the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) aboard the hydrographic survey ship Staffetta in the Red Sea and the gunboat Giuliana. During World War I (1915-1918) he took part in the operations in Albania, obtaining a Silver Medal of Military Valor. As commander of the submarine Argonauta he carried out 30 combat missions along the enemy coast, obtaining a second Silver Medal and two Bronze Medals of Military Valor. He also directed clandestine submarine warfare during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). During World War II he participated in the battles of Calabria (1940), Taranto (1940) and Cape Matapan (1941), and as well as in the counter-actions against the British operations Hats (1940) and MB 5 (1940) aimed at supplying Malta. He directed Italian submarine operations in the Mediterranean from 1941-1943. He was decorated with the German Iron Cross 2nd class and the Officer's Cross of the Military Order of Savoy.

Carlo Bergamini (1888-1943) – Italian admiral. He participated in the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) as a naval officer on the armoured cruiser Vettor Pisani. During World War I (1915-1918) he was the chief of artillery on the cruiser Pisa. He received a Silver Medal of Military Valor for his bravery in the Battle of Durazzo (1918), during which he sunk the Austro-Hungarian steamer Stambul. During the interwar years he made a notable contribution to the design of the fire-control system adopted on the major Italian warships. During World War II he participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento (1940). An opponent of the Armistice of Cassibile (1943), he refused to surrender his fleet to the British. While heading towards neutral waters he was killed in a bombing raid on board the battleship Roma, going down with his ship.

Giovanni Galati (1897-1971) – Italian admiral. He participated in the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) aboard the training ships Flavio Gioia and Amerigo Vespucci. He took part in World War I, where he commanded the self-propelled armed pontoon Carso. In 1918 he distinguished himself in an action near Caposile on the Piave River, receiving a Silver Medal of Military Valor. During World War II (1940-1945) he participated in the Battle of Calabria (1940), sank the British submarine Oswald, and carried out dozens of missions as escort leader of supply convoys in the Mediterranean. He gained a reputation for having never lost a ship. An opponent of the Armistice of Cassibile (1943), he refused to surrender and declared that he would never deliver his fleet to the British. One of the most brilliant officers in the Navy. In his career he was four times awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valor, twice awarded the Bronze Medal of Military Valor, the War Cross for Military Valor, the War Merit Cross, the Military Order of Savoy, the Order of the Crown of Italy, the Colonial Order of the Star of Italy and the German Iron Cross 2nd Class.


Minor Italian Admirals

Marcus Atilius Regulus (299-246 BC) – Roman statesman and general. He served as a general in the First Punic War, where he defeated the Carthaginians in a naval battle at Cape Ecnomus (256 BC). The battle was possibly the largest naval battle in history by number of combatants involved: a combined 680 warships carrying up to 290,000 crew and marines.

Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus (3rd century BC) – Roman statesman and general. Together with Marcus Atilius Regulus he was joint commander of the Roman fleet which defeated the Carthaginians at the Battle of Cape Ecnomus (256 BC). His command skills during the battle were essential in saving the transport ships, which allowed the Romans to pursue a follow up attack.

Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus (c. 130-44 BC) – Roman general and politician. He was given the command of fighting piracy in Cilicia in 78-74 BC. He won several naval victories off Cilicia and occupied the coasts of nearby Lycia and Pamphylia. He captured the town of Olympos and killed the pirate captain Zenicetus. He received his agnomen of Isaurus because he defeated the Isauri who lived on the border of Cilicia. He incorporated Isauria into the province of Cilicia Pedias.

Octavian Augustus (63 BC - 14 AD) – Founder of the Roman Empire and 1st Roman Emperor. In his Res Gestae, Augustus boasted that his fleet "sailed from the mouth of the Rhine eastward as far as the lands of the Cimbri to which, up to that time, no Roman had ever penetrated either by land or by sea."

Tiberius (42 BC - 37 AD) – 2nd Emperor of the Roman Empire and one of the greatest Roman generals. In 5 BC Roman knowledge concerning the North and Baltic Sea was fairly extended during a campaign by Tiberius, reaching as far as the Elbe.

Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) – Roman historian and military commander. In 79 AD, as fleet commander of the Roman Navy, he died in Stabiae while attempting to rescue a friend and his family by ship from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which already had destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Cesario Console (c. 800's - 870) – Italian admiral and commander of the fleet of the Duchy of Naples between 840 and 870. Following the Arab raid against Rome (846), he led a naval contingent during the Siege of Gaeta (846), causing the Saracens to retreat back to Africa. He also led the victorious fleet of the Italian League against the Saracens at the Battle of Ostia (849).

Ordelaffo Falier (1070-1117) – 34th Doge of Venice. In 1104 he founded the Venetian Arsenal, which was responsible for Venice's naval power. In 1110, during the Norwegian Crusade, he personally commanded a Venetian fleet of 100 ships to assist Baldwin I of Jerusalem in capturing the city of Sidon. He also led the Venetian reconquest of Dalmatia (1115-1117). He was killed at Zara during a battle against the Hungarians.

Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone (c. 1080-1164) – Italian crusader, admiral, diplomat and historian. He participated in the capture of Caesarea (1101) during the First Crusade, the Siege of Almeria (1147) during the Reconquista and the Siege of Tortosa (1148) during the Second Crusade.

Simone Doria (c. 1130 - 13th century) – Italian crusader, admiral and politician. He led a naval fleet in support of the troops of King Philip II Augustus at the Siege of Acre (1190) during the Third Crusade. During the Fifth Crusade he led the Genoese fleet in the Siege of Damietta (1218-1219).

Oberto Doria (1229-1306) – Italian politician and admiral. He rose to fame as the admiral of the Genoese fleet in the Battle of Meloria (1284) in which, together with Benedetto Zaccaria and Corrado Spinola, he defeated the Pisans. The victory allowed Genoa to regain Corsica and Sardinia.

Benedetto I Zaccaria (c. 1235-1307) – Lord of Phocaea, Lord of Chios and founder of the Zaccaria dynasty. He was the principal commander of the Genoese fleet at the Battle of Meloria (1284). His surprise attack led to a decisive Genoese victory and the permanent decline of Pisa's military and mercantile power. He also participated alongside in a victorious campaign against Morocco under Sancho IV and served as an admiral under Philip IV of France, blocking English and Flemish ports and conquering the island of Chios (1304) from Muslim corsairs.

Lamba Doria (1245-1323) – Considered one of the best Genoese admirals. He defeated the Venetians in the Battle of Curzola (1298), capturing admiral Andrea Dandolo and, according to tradition, Marco Polo.

Paganino Doria (13th-14th century) – Italian admiral. He was the head of the victorious Genoese naval forces in the Third Venetian-Genoese War (1350-1355). At the Battle of Sapienza (1354) he captured the entire Venetian fleet, taking 35 galleys and 5,000 prisoners, including Venetian admiral Niccolò Pisani.

Ambrogio Boccanegra (c. 1300's-1374) – Italian admiral and son of Simone Boccanegra, the first Doge of Genoa. He commanded the Castilian-French forces against the English at the Battle of La Rochelle (1372).

Andrea Contarini (c. 1300-1382) – 60th Doge of Venice. Noted for his personal bravery. Though in his 70's, he took personal command of the Venetian Navy and led troops in the War of Chioggia (1378-1381), which consecrated Venice's position as the undisputed ruler of the seas for the following centuries.

Pietro Zeno (d. 1345) – Venetian captain, bailiff of Negroponte and one of the leaders of the Smyrniote Crusade (1343-1345). In 1334 he commanded a fleet of twenty galleys and defeated the large fleet of Yakhshi, Emir of Karasi, off Adramyttion. In 1345, during the Smyrniote Crusade, he was killed by Turks in an ambush at church while celebrating Mass.

Egidio Boccanegra (d. 1367) – Italian admiral and brother of Simone Boccanegra, the first Doge of Genoa. He fought in service of France and the Crown of Castile, participating in the Battle of Sluys (1340) during the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), the Siege of Algeciras (1342-1344) during the Reconquista, the War of the Two Pedros (1356-1375) and the Castilian Civil War (1351-1369).

Tommaso Mocenigo (1343-1423) – 64th Doge of Venice. He commanded the crusading fleet in the Battle of Nicopolis (1396) and won battles against the Genoese during the War of Chioggia (1378-1381), which solidified Venice's position as undisputed ruler of the seas.

Pietro Loredan (1372-1438) – Venetian nobleman. He was a distinguished military commander both on sea and on land. He fought against the Ottomans, winning the Battle of Gallipoli (1416), played a leading role in the conquest of Dalmatia (1411-1420), and participated in several campaigns against Genoa and Milan, securing Venice's mainland domains or Terraferma.

Biagio Assereto (c. 1383-1456) – Italian admiral. As a naval commander he led a Genoese fleet to help Joan II of Naples (1425), captured the Florentine Ferruccio Verro (1426) and pushed back Domenico Campofregoso and his Florentine allies (1427). He led a small fleet to Gaeta to Francesco Spinola and was victorious in the subsequent Battle of Ponza (1435). He later defeated the Venetian admiral Andrea Quirini at Casalmaggiore (1448).

Alvise Loredan (1393-1466) – Venetian nobleman and admiral. He served with distinction as a military commander, with a long record of battles against the Ottomans. He participated in the Siege of Thessalonica (1422-1430), the Crusade of Varna (1443-1444), the First Ottoman-Venetian War of (1463-1479) and the Wars in Lombardy (1423-1454).

Vettore Cappello (c. 1400-1467) – Italian statesman and military commander. Best known for his command of Venetian forces as Captain General of the Sea during the early stages of the First Ottoman-Venetian War (1463-1479).

Benedetto Pesaro (c. 1430-1503) – Venetian nobleman and Commander-in-Chief of the Venetian Navy. He is notable for his military successes during the Second Ottoman-Venetian War (1499-1503). His first victory came when he retook Cephalonia from the Ottomans during the Siege of the Castle of Saint George (1500).

Domenico Malipiero (1445-1513) – Venetian patrician, admiral and historian. He held command in the War of Ferrara (1482-1484) and was later appointed Admiral of the Fleet.

Francesco Duodo (1518-1592) – Italian admiral and one of the commanders of the Venetian fleet at the Battle of Lepanto (1571). The victory of the Holy League over the Ottomans was due in large part to the galleasses under his command.

Gianandrea Doria (1539-1606) – Italian admiral and grandson of Andrea Doria. He commanded the right wing of the of the Christian fleet at Battle of Lepanto (1571). He also led an expedition against the Barbary pirates in 1601.

Jacopo Inghirami (1565-1624) – Italian admiral and knight of the Order of St. Stephen. In the 1590's he fought for Philippe Emmanuel de Lorraine of the Catholic League during the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598). In 1602, during the Long Turkish War (1594-1606), he led a successful operation which resulted in a large number of Ottoman prisoners and the liberation of Christian captives. For several years the Tuscan fleet under his command engaged Ottoman shipping and Berber pirates in the Mediterranean, with several successes, including the defeat of the Saracen pirate Murat Reis at the Bay of Bonifacio (1603) and the capture of Bona (1607) in modern-day Algeria.

Federico Spinola (1571-1603) – Italian admiral. He fought in Habsburg service during the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648), serving in the Army of Flanders under Alessandro Farnese, Duke of Parma. In 1598 he proposed a plan to build a fleet to launch a Spanish invasion of England. During the Anglo-Spanish War (1585-1602) he fought in the Battle of Sesimbra Bay (1602) and the Battle of the Narrow Seas (1602). He died in the Battle of Sluis (1603) during the Eighty Years' War.

Bartolomeo Contarini (c. 1600's) – Italian admiral and commander of the combined Venetian and Papal fleet at the Battle of Andros (1696) during the Great Turkish War (1683-1699). Later he commanded the Venetian fleet in the Action of 6 July 1697, hunting down the Turkish fleet in the Aegean Sea.

Lorenzo Marcello (1603-1656) – Italian admiral and politician. He undertook his first military duties in the 1630's, escorting merchant ships to Syria and fighting the Turks in the Aegean and the Cyclades. In 1634 he led an intense and successful campaign against the pirates who infested the area. Later he participated in the War of Candia (1645-1669), leading the combined Venetian-Maltese fleet at the Battle of the Dardanelles (1656). Although he lost his life in that battle, the result was the greatest Venetian victory since the Battle of Lepanto (1571).

Lazzaro Mocenigo (1624-1657) – Italian admiral. He was a naval commander during the Venetian expeditions to the Dardanelles (1654-1657), in which he defeated the Turks but lost one of his eyes. Later he came close to reconquering Constantinople from the Turks but was killed by canon fire.

Andrea Pisani (1655-1718) – Italian admiral. He volunteered in the imperial army during the Siege of Buda (1686) and participated in the Battle of the Oinousses Islands (1695) during the Sixth Ottoman-Venetian War (1684-1699). He was also a commander during the Seventh Ottoman-Venetian War (1714-1718) and was awarded the title of Knight of the Order of the Golden Stole in 1717.

Lodovico Flangini (1677-1717) – Italian admiral. He commanded the Venetian squadron during the victorious battles of Imbros (1717) and Mount Athos (1717) during the Seventh Ottoman-Venetian War (1714-1718). He was killed in combat in 1717.

Francesco Sivori (1771-1830) – Italian admiral. He led a squadron of Sardinian vessels to victory over the Turks during the Battle of Tripoli (1825).

Augusto Riboty (1816-1888) – Italian admiral and Minister of the Navy. He participated in the First Italian War of Independence (1848-1849) and also saw service in the Crimean War (1853-1856) and participated in the multinational intervention in Tunisia during the Mejba Revolt (1864-1865). At the Battle of Lissa (1866), during the Third Italian War of Independence, he gallantly led his ship and inflicted serious damage to the Austrian SMS Kaiser.

Umberto Cagni (1863-1932) – Italian explorer and admiral. He led a probe over the surface of the Arctic Ocean in 1899-1900 with Luigi Amedeo di Savoia-Aosta, achieving the northernmost point reached by exploration up to that time. He also led naval relief efforts in the 1908 Messina earthquake, participated in the conquest of Libya during the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912), and served in World War I (1915-1918).

Simone Antonio Saint-Bon (1828-1892) – Italian admiral. He took part in the Crimean war (1853-1856), distinguished himself at the Siege of Ancona (1860) during the Piedmontese Campaign in Central Italy, and was decorated for valor at the Siege of Gaeta (1860-1861). At the Battle of Lissa (1866), during the Third Italian War of Independence, his vessel forced the entrance of the port of San Giorgio and silenced the Austrian batteries, for which he received a gold medal. He modernized the Italian Royal Navy and in the early 20th century was regarded as the originator of the modern Italian fleet.

Costanzo Ciano (1876-1939) – Italian admiral and politician. He fought in the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) and World War I (1915-1918). He commanded MAS units, receiving a Gold Medal of Military Valor for his action in the Bakar Mockery (1918). In addition to the Gold Medal, he was four times decorated with the Silver Medal of Military Valor and was also awarded the Bronze Medal of Military Valor for his successes against the Austrians.

Mario Falangola (1880-1967) – Italian admiral who fought in the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912), World War I (1915-1918) and World War II (1940-1945). In 1918, as a submarine commander, he sank the Austro-Hungarian auxiliary ship Pelagosa and the troopship Euterpe, causing the loss of 555 Austro-Hungarian soldiers. He was three times awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valor and twice awarded the Bronze Medal of Military Valor

Mario Bonetti (1888-1961) – Italian admiral. During the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) he distinguished himself in command of landing parties in Derna and Tobruk, receiving the War Cross for Military Valor. During World War I (1915-1918) he served on submarines for 21 months, receiving a Silver Medal of Military Valor. From 1934 to 1938 he commanded the Hydrographic Survey Vessel Group which carried out several hydrographic campaigns in the Red Sea. During World War II (1940-1945) he was commander of the Massawa Fortress Area and its garrison in East Africa, where he twice refused to surrender to the British. For his defense of Massawa (1941), he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Military Order of Savoy and the Cross of the Order of the German Eagle.

Salvatore Pelosi (1906-1974) – Italian admiral who took part in operations during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935-1936), participated in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and served in World War II (1940-1945). As commander of the submarine Torricelli he made a gallant last stand against overwhelming British naval forces in June 1940. For this action he was awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor.

Agostino Straulino (1914-2004) – Italian sailor, admiral and Olympic sailboat racing champion. During World War II he served on the cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi and in the Xª Flottiglia MAS—Italy's elite commando frogman unit. He participated in amphibious operations against British ships in Gibraltar (1942), sinking or damaging the British ships Meta, Shuna, Empire Snipe, Baron Douglas, and the British steamer Raven's Point. During the war he was decorated with the Silver Medal of Military Valor and the Bronze Medal of Military Valor. He won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics. He was a four-time world champion (1950, 1953, 1956, 1965), ten-time European champion (1938, 1949-1956, 1959), twelve-time Italian champion (1938, 1946, 1948-1956, 1959), winning a total of fifteen gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals for sailboat racing.

Italian Librettists

Major Italian Librettists

Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782) – Librettist and poet. Considered the greatest librettist of all time and the most important writer of opera seria libretti.

Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) – Playwright and librettist. Regarded as the greatest Italian playwright and the most important librettist of the opera buffa genre.

Ranieri de' Calzabigi (1714-1795) – Poet and librettist. Most famous for his collaboration with Gluck, for whom he wrote the libretti for Don Juan (1761), Orfeo ed Euridice (1762), Alceste (1767) and Paride ed Elena (1770).

Felice Romani (1788-1865) – Poet, librettist and music critic. The Considered the finest Italian librettist between Metastasio and Boito. He wrote many librettos for Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini and Pacini.

Salvadore Cammarano (1801-1852) – Librettist and playwright. Best known for writing the text of Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) for Donizetti. For Donizetti he also wrote the libretti for L'assedio di Calais (1836), Belisario (1836), Pia de' Tolomei (1837), Roberto Devereux (1837), Maria de Rudenz (1838), Poliuto (1838) and Maria di Rohan (1843). For Verdi he wrote Alzira (1845), La battaglia di Legnano (1849), Luisa Miller (1849) and Il trovatore (1853).

Francesco Maria Piave (1810-1876) – Best known as Giuseppe Verdi's librettist, for whom he wrote 10 librettos, the most well-known being those for Macbeth (1847), Rigoletto (1851) and La traviata (1853).

Arrigo Boito (1842-1918) – Poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer. Regarded as one of the greatest librettists of all time. Best known for his libretti for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893), Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda (1876), and his own opera Mefistofele (1868).

Giuseppe Giacosa (1847-1906) – Poet, playwright and librettist. Best known for writing the libretti for Puccini's three operas La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900) and Madama Butterfly (1904), in conjunction with Luigi Illica, and for writing the final version of the libretto for Puccini's Manon Lescaut (1893).

Luigi Illica (1857-1919) – His most famous libretti are those for Puccini's La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900) and Madama Butterfly (1904), in conjunction with Giuseppe Giacosa, as well as Antonio Smareglia's Nozze istriane (1895) and Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chénier (1896).

Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919) – Composer and librettist. He wrote the libretto for his own opera Pagliacci (1892).

Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938) – Although best known today for his poetry and military exploits, he also wrote libretti, including Le Martyre de saint Sébastien (1911) for Debussy and Parisina (1913) for Pietro Mascagni.

Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007) – Composer and librettist. He wrote his own libretti for over two dozen operas, including the classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951), the first opera ever written for television in the United States. His other major works include The Consul (1950) and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955), for which he won two prizes.


Minor Italian Librettists

Ottavio Rinuccini (1562-1621) - Poet, courtier and the world's first librettist. He wrote the libretto for Jacopo Peri's Dafne (1597), the first opera.

Alessandro Striggio (1573-1630) – He wrote the libretto for Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607).

Giovanni Francesco Busenello (1598-1659) – Best remembered for his five opera libretti for Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli, the most important being the libretto for L'incoronazione di Poppea (1643).

Apostolo Zeno (1668-1750) – Poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. He composed 36 libretti for operas.

Domenico Lalli (1679-1741) – Poet and librettist. Among the many libretti he produced were those for Vivaldi's Ottone in villa (1713) and Alessandro Scarlatti's Tigrane (1715).

Giovanni Ambrogio Migliavacca (c. 1718 - c. 1795) – Poet and librettist. His most successful work was the libretto for the opera Solimano (1753), first set by Johann Adolph Hasse and subsequently set by 18 other composers in the course of the next 50 years.

Marco Coltellini (1719-1777) – He provided libretti for Gluck, Hasse and Salieri, and revised Carlo Goldoni's La finta semplice (1768) so it could be set by Mozart. He also wrote the libretto for Giuseppe Scarlatti's Dove è amore è gelosiae (1768).

Giambattista Varesco (1735-1805) – Priest, musician, poet and librettist. His most notable work is the libretto to Mozart's Idomeneo (1781). He also edited Metastasio's libretto for Mozart's Il re pastore (1775).

Giovanni de Gamerra (1743-1803) – Priest, playwright, poet and librettist. Operas based on his libretti include Giuseppe Sarti's Medonte, re di Epiro (1777), Josef Myslivecek's Il Medonte (1780), Paisiello's Pirro (1787), Mozart's Lucio Silla (1772) and several operas by Antonio Salieri.

Angelo Anelli (1761-1820) – Poet and librettist. His opera libretti includes those for Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri (1813), Paer's I fuorusciti di Firenze (1802), Usiglio's La secchia rapita (1872), and Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio (1810) which later formed the basis for Donizetti's Don Pasquale (1843).

Gaetano Rossi (1774-1855) – He wrote libretti for several of the bel canto composers including Rossini, Donizetti, Saverio Mercadante and Giacomo Meyerbeer. His most important libretto was for Rossini's Tancredi (1813) and Semiramide (1823).

Cesare Sterbini (1784–1831) – Writer and librettist. Best known as the librettist for two operas by Rossini: Torvaldo e Dorliska (1815) and The Barber of Seville (1816).

Jacopo Ferretti (1784–1852) – Writer, poet and librettist. He is famous for writing the libretti for five operas by Donizetti and two operas by Rossini, the most important being La Cenerentola (1817).

Andrea Maffei (1798-1885) – Poet, translator and librettist. His most notable libretti are those for Verdi's Macbeth (1847) and I masnadieri (1847).

Andrea Leone Tottola (c. 1750 - 1831) – His best known libretti are those for Donizetti's La zingara (1822), Alfredo il grande (1823), Il castello di Kenilworth (1829) and Imelda de' Lambertazzi (1830), and for Rossini's Mosè in Egitto (1818), Ermione (1819), La donna del lago (1819) and Zelmira (1822).

Temistocle Solera (1815-1878) – Composer and librettist. He wrote the libretti for Verdi's Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio (1839), Nabucco (1842), I Lombardi alla prima crociata (1843), Giovanna d'Arco (1845) and Attila (1846).

Antonio Ghislanzoni (1824-1893) – Journalist, novelist, poet and librettist. His bes known libretti are those for Verdi's Aida (1871) the revised version of La forza del destino (1869).

Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti (1863-1934) – Best known for his collaboration with the composer Pietro Mascagni. His most famous libretto is for Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana (1890), co-written with Guido Menasci.

Guido Menasci (1867-1925) – His best-known work is Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana (1890), co-written with Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti.

Giuseppe Adami (1878-1946) – Librettist, playwright and music critic. Best known for his collaboration with Puccini on the operas La rondine (1917), Il tabarro (1918) and Turandot (1926).

Cicero on the Superiority of the Latins Over the Greeks

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.), better known as Cicero, was a famous Roman statesman, orator, lawyer, consul, philosopher, political theorist and scholar.

Cicero is universally celebrated as Rome's greatest orator and prose stylist. Among other things, he is also noted for his strong patriotic sentiments. In Book I of his Tusculanae disputationes, he compares the Latins and the Greeks and extrapolates upon why he believes the Latins to be superior in virtue, wisdom, customs, military, discipline, law, oratory and other matters:

“And now since the principles and rules of all arts which relate to living well depend on the study of wisdom, which is called philosophy, I have thought it an employment worthy of me to illustrate them in the Latin tongue: not because philosophy could not be understood in the Greek language, or by the teaching of Greek masters; but it has always been my opinion, that our countrymen have, in some instances, made wiser discoveries than the Greeks, with reference to those subjects which they have considered worthy of devoting their attention to, and in others have improved upon their discoveries, so that in one way or other we surpass them on every point: for, with regard to the manners and habits of private life, and family and domestic affairs, we certainly manage them with more elegance, and better than they did; and as to our republic, that our ancestors have, beyond all dispute, formed on better customs and laws. 

What shall I say of our military affairs; in which our ancestors have been most eminent in valour, and still more so in discipline? As to those things which are attained not by study, but nature, neither Greece, nor any nation, is comparable to us: for what people has displayed such gravity, such steadiness, such greatness of soul, probity, faith — such distinguished virtue of every kind, as to be equal to our ancestors. 

In learning, indeed, and all kinds of literature, Greece did excel us, and it was easy to do so where there was no competition; for while amongst the Greeks the poets were the most ancient species of learned men — since Homer and Hesiod lived before the foundation of Rome, and Archilochus was a contemporary of Romulus — we received poetry much later. For it was about five hundred and ten years after the building of Rome before Livius published a play in the consulship of C. Claudius, the son of Cæcus, and M. Tuditanus, a year before the birth of Ennius, who was older than Plautus and Nævius. 

It was, therefore, late before poets were either known or received amongst us; though we find in Cato de Originibus that the guests used, at their entertainments, to sing the praises of famous men to the sound of the flute; but a speech of Cato’s shows this kind of poetry to have been in no great esteem, as he censures Marcus Nobilior, for carrying poets with him into his province: for that consul, as we know, carried Ennius with him into Ætolia. 

Therefore the less esteem poets were in, the less were those studies pursued: though even then those who did display the greatest abilities that way, were not very inferior to the Greeks. Do we imagine that if it had been considered commendable in Fabius, a man of the highest rank, to paint, we should not have had many Polycleti and Parrbasii. Honour nourishes art, and glory is the spur with all to studies; while those studies are always neglected in every nation, which are looked upon disparagingly. 

The Greeks held skill in vocal and instrumental music as a very important accomplishment, and therefore it is recorded of Epaminondas, who, in my opinion, was the greatest man amongst the Greeks, that he played excellently on the flute; and Themistocles some years before was deemed ignorant because at an entertainment he declined the lyre when it was offered to him. For this reason musicians flourished in Greece; music was a general study; and whoever was unacquainted with it, was not considered as fully instructed in learning. Geometry was in high esteem with them, therefore none were more honourable than mathematicians; but we have confined this art to bare measuring and calculating. 

But on the contrary, we early entertained an esteem for the orator; though he was not at first a man of learning, but only quick at speaking; in subsequent times he became learned; for it is reported that Galba, Africanus, and Lælius, were men of learning; and that even Cato, who preceded them in point of time, was a studious man: then succeeded the Lepidi, Carbo, and Gracchi, and so many great orators after them, down to our own times, that we were very little, if at all, inferior to the Greeks.”

References:
• Cicero (Tusculanae disputationes)

The Etruscan Civilization of Ancient Italy and Its Influence on Early Rome

Overview

Etruscan civilization is the name given to an advanced civilization of ancient Italy created by the Etruscans. Its homeland was in the area of central Italy known as Etruria, just north of Rome, which is today called Tuscany.

In ancient times there was a strong legendary tradition that the Etruscans had emigrated from Lydia, on the eastern coast of present-day Anatolia. Modern historians have largely discounted this idea, and believe that the Etruscans were an indigenous Italian population – a belief largely confirmed by modern DNA studies – identified by modern scholars as descending from the Iron-age Villanovan culture, the earliest Iron Age culture of central and northern Italy.

Etruscan civilization lasted from the 8th century BC to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. In the 6th century BC the Etruscans expanded their influence over a wide area of Italy. They founded city-states in the Po Valley in northern Italy, and to the south their influence expanded down into Latium and beyond into Campania. The Etruscans also gained control of Corsica. Early Rome was deeply influenced by Etruscan culture (the word “Rome” is Etruscan). Many famous Italian cities were founded by the Etruscans, such as Arezzo, Bologna, Capua, Fiesole, Grosseto, Lucca, Mantua, Modena, Montepulciano, Nola, Orvieto, Parma, Perugia, Piombino, Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena and Volterra.

Between the late 6th and early 4th centuries BC, Etruscan power declined. To the south, the rising power of the Greek city-states of Sicily and southern Italy weakened Etruscan political and military influence, and cities which they had either dominated or founded, such as Rome, threw out their overlords and became independent city-states. In the north, Gallic tribes invaded northern Italy and destroyed many of the Etruscan cities there. Some Etruscans were driven into the Alps, where they became known as Rhaetians. However, in their Tuscan homeland the Etruscan cities remained powerful, and were formidable opponents of the rising power of Rome. It was only in the 3rd century BC that they surrendered their independence to the Romans.

The Etruscans spoke a unique language, unrelated to those of their neighbours. Their culture developed primarily from local Villanovan culture. The Etruscan alphabet derived from Cumean. They in turn passed on their alphabet to the Romans.

Government

The Etruscans adopted the city-state as their political model earlier than their neighbours in central Italy. The Etruscan homeland was originally divided into twelve city-states, but new cities sprang up as the Etruscans expanded their sphere of influence.

The original twelve cities were: Arretium (Arezzo), Caere (Cerveteri), Clusium (Chiusi), Populonia (Piombino), Perusia (Perugia), Rusellae (Roselle), Tarquinii (Tarquinia), Veii (Veio), Vetulonium (Vetulonia), Volaterrae (Volterra), Volsinii (Bolsena or Orvieto) and Vulci (Volci).

Most Etruscan cities moved from monarchy to oligarchy in the 6th century BC. Some cities seem to have retained their monarchies.

The different city-states of Etruria were united by a common religion, and by a loose political confederacy. This did not stop the different states from going to war with one another from time to time.

Military and Religion

Like other ancient cultures, warfare was a major aspect of their political life. Like many ancient societies, the Etruscans conducted campaigns during summer months, raiding neighbouring areas, attempting to gain territory, and engaging in – or combating – piracy.

The Etruscans had the distinction of being the only people of ancient Italy to practice human sacrifice. It was a feature of their religion, and prisoners of war could end up on the altars of Etruscan gods. As a part of this sacrifice, prisoners were sometimes set to fight one another. The Romans later took this practice over, without however any religious meaning, and it grew into the gladiatorial entertainments of the Roman amphitheatres.

Art and Architecture

The surviving Etruscan art which has come down to us is figurative sculpture in terracotta (especially life-size tomb statues in temples) and cast bronze, wall-painting and metalworking (especially engraved bronze mirrors).

As with all ancient peoples, Etruscan art was strongly connected to religion; the afterlife was of major importance in Etruscan art.

The Etruscan musical instruments seen in frescoes and bas-reliefs are different types of pipes, such as pan pipes and double pipes, percussion instruments, and stringed instruments like the lyre.

The architecture of the ancient Etruscans was very advanced, and went on to influence that of early Rome. The Etruscans made a number of innovations in architecture and engineering, including the invention of the arch.

Etruscan Legacy

Rome is located on the edge of what was the Etruscan homeland. Certain institutions and customs of Rome came directly from the Etruscans. In fact, the name of Rome itself has an Etruscan origin, as do the names of its legendary founders, Romulus and Remus. There were strong Latin and Italic elements to Roman culture, as well as Etruscan elements, and later Romans proudly celebrated these origins. Before the Etruscans, however, Rome was most likely a collection of small farming settlements. The Etruscans provided it with its early political arrangements (monarchy, army) and urban infrastructure (walls, forum, drainage system); in short, it was probably they who turned Rome into a full-blown city-state.

The Etruscans were prolific writers and their texts were studied in schools by the Romans. The Etruscan alphabet was the basis for Old Italic script, which gave rise to the Latin alphabet. Today however their writings are lost. The only written records of Etruscan origin that remain are inscriptions, mainly funerary. Otherwise, Etruscan literature is evidenced only in references by later Roman authors.

Few Etruscan words entered the Latin language, but those that did tended to pertain to state authority: the toga palmata (a magistrate’s robe), the sella curulis (magistrate’s chair), and the fasces – a bundle of whipping rods surrounding a double-bladed axe, carried by magistrate’s attendants (lictors). The fasces symbolised magisterial power. Also, the word populus is of Etruscan derivation, and originally referred to the people assembled for war, as an army, rather than the general populace.

The early Romans were deeply influenced by their Etruscan rulers, whose imprint can be seen in the Romans’ writing, art and architecture, religion, military matters, entertainment and a host of other aspects of daily life. In thus helping to shape Roman civilization, the Etruscans had an enduring influence on Italian and later Western culture.

The Italian Fathers of Fairy Tales: Straparola and Basile

We are all familiar with the great anthologies of fairy tales written and collated by the likes of Charles Perrault, the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, but have you heard of Giambattista Basile or Straparola?

Children today may have come to associate fairy tales with big budget live action films or iconic Disney cartoons, but in fact the tradition of fairy tales predates even the written word. Before Disney, and even before the widely known fairy tale collectors like Charles Perrault, the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen, these fantastical stories for children and adults (many tales in fact were much more gruesome than the versions we know today, with the content being made more child friendly as the decades went on), were passed on by minstrels or elders.

One of the first people to collate and record some of these tales, which are normally associated with the north of Europe was in fact an Italian, Straparola. Giovanni Francesco, known as Straparola (“The Babbler”) was born in 1480 in Caravaggio in Italy, and during his life he collated 75 folkloristic tales into two volumes: Le Piacevoli Notti published between 1550 and 1553, later published in English with the title ‘The Facetious Nights of Straparola’. Many of these stories are now classic fairy tales, including ‘Puss in Boots’, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Golden Goose’.

The second Italian fairy tale collector is perhaps better known thanks to the film directed by Mattero Garrone in 2015, Tale of Tales starring Salma Hayek and Vincent Cassel. The film is inspired by a book written by poet Giambattista Basile, originally titled Lo cunto de li cunti (‘Tale of Tales’) and published in Naples between 1634 and 1636 in Neapolitan dialect.

Also called lo trattenemiento de peccerille – Entertainment for Little Ones – the book is composed of 50 fairy-tales recounted by 10 different storytellers in 5 days. It was in fact its structure that gave it its second name, in 1674: ‘The Pentamerone’, from Penta, meaning “five”.

The Pentamerone was published posthumously in two volumes by Basile’s sister Adriana in Naples in 1634 and 1636 under the pseudonym Gian Alesio Abbatutis with the name Lu Cunto. Just like Straparola’s volumes, this work too inevitably recalls the Tuscan work by Boccaccio, the Decameron, because of the similar structure of the two books.

While Basile’s work was unfairly forgotten for a long time, it was unearthed by the Grimm brothers, who then had it translated into German, resulting in its first integral publication, with the preface by Jacob Grimm in 1846, and in English in 1848. In 1925, the volumes made their way back into Italian literature with a stunning translation into Italian by philosopher Benedetto Croce who loved it and praised it.

But what fairy tales can be found in Basile’s opera magna? Early incarnations of the timeless princesses of fairy tales like ‘Rapunzel’, ‘Snow White’, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Cinderella’.

Italian Historians

Italian Historians of Antiquity

Ennius (239 BC - 169 BC) – Called the “Father of Roman Poetry”. His most important work is Annales, an epic poem on the early history of the Ancient Rome.

Cato the Censor (234-149 BC) – The first writer of Latin prose and the first author of a history of Italy in Latin.

Sallust (86-34 BC) – The earliest Roman historian whose complete works survive. The best known are The Jugurthine War, The Conspiracy of Catiline and Histories.

Titus Livius or Livy (59 BC - 17 AD) – One of the most important historians of ancient Rome, together with Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.

Marcus Velleius Paterculus (c. 19 BC - c. 31 AD) – Roman historian best known for his Compendium of Roman History.

Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) – The most important historian of ancient Rome. His Natural History is considered the world's first encyclopedia. He coined the two expressions, “Take it with a grain of salt” and “Fortune favors the bold”.

Tacitus (c.  56-120 AD) – Considered one of the greatest Roman historians. His two most important works are his Annals and Histories.

Suetonius (c. 69-126 AD) – Roman historian, best known for his Lives of the Caesars and Lives of Illustrious Men.

Florus (c. 70-145 AD) – Roman historian and poet, best known for writing an Epitome of Roman History.


Italian Historians of Late Antiquity

Sextus Aurelius Victor (c. 320 - c. 390) – Four historical works are attributed to him: Origo Gentis Romanae, De Viris Illustribus Romae, De Caesaribus and Epitome de Caesaribus, which are collectively known as Historia Romana.

Sofronius Eusebius Hieronymus or Jerome (347-420) – One of the most important early Christian writers and one of the four Latin Doctors of the Church. His most important historical works are his Chronicle and the biographical De Viris Illustribus.

Sulpicius Severus (c. 360 - c. 420) – Ecclesiastical writer known for his Chronicle and for his Life of St. Martin of Tours.

Cassiodorus (c. 485-580) – Statesman, scholar and monk. A prolific writer of histories, letters, panegyrics and theological works. Inventor of the world's first scriptorium. He enjoined his monks to collect and copy ancient manuscripts, thereby preserving the ancient works of both secular and Christian authors for posterity.

Gregory of Tours (c. 538-594) – Bishop and historian. His most notable work was his History of the Franks.

Secundus of Trent (5th century - 612) – His lost History of the Acts of the Langobards was a primary source for Paul the Deacon's Historia Langobardorum.


Italian Historians of the Middle Ages

Jonas Bobiensis (c. 600 - c. 659) – Monk and hagiographer. Best known for his Life of St. Columbanus.

Anastasius Bibliothecarius (c. 810 - c. 879) – Best known as one of the attributed authors of the Liber Pontificalis, the most important collections of papal biographies.

Thomas the Archdeacon (c. 1200-1268) – The most important chronicler of medieval Dalmatia. His Historia Salonitana is an essential source for the history of Dalmatia and the city of Spalato.

John the Deacon (c. 940 - c. 1018) – He compiled the Chronicon Sagornini, he oldest chronicle of the Republic of Venice.

Gregory of Catino (c. 1060 - c. 1133) – One of the most accomplished monastic historians of his age. His Chronicon set the tone for the writing of monastic history in 12th century Italy.

Giovanni Villani (1280-1348) – Best known for writing the Nuova Cronica on the history of Florence. The work contains the first introduction of statistics as a positive element in history.


Italian Historians of the Renaissance

Leonardo Bruni (c. 1370-1444) – Regarded as the first modern historian. He was the earliest person to write using the three-period view of history: Antiquity, Middle Ages, and Modern. His History of the Florentine People has been called the first modern history book.

Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459) – Scholar, historian and writer. He authored numerous dialogues, essays, treatises, epistles and a History of Florence.

Flavio Biondo (1392-1463) – One of the first historians to use a three-period division of history (Ancient, Medieval, Modern) and was also one of the first archaeologists. His greatest works were Italia illustrata and the Historiarum ab inclinatione Romanorum imperii decades.

Pietro Martire d'Anghiera (1457-1526) – He wrote the first accounts of explorations in Central and South America in a series of letters and reports, collectively called the Decades. His De Orbe Novo describes the first contacts of Europeans and Native Americans, Native American civilizations in the Caribbean, North America and Mesoamerica, and includes the first European reference to India rubber.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) – Diplomat, politician, historian, philosopher, writer, playwright and poet. His most important historical work is Florentine Histories.

Polidoro Virgili (1470-1555) – Scholar, historian, priest and diplomat. Called the “Father of English History”.

Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540) – One of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. His masterpiece, The History of Italy, paved the way for a new style in historiography.

Paolo Giovio (1483-1552) – Physician, historian, biographer and bishop. Best remembered as a chronicler of the Italian Wars. His chief works include the Historiae, the Vitae and the Elogia.

Antonio Pigafetta (c. 1492 - c. 1531) – Explorer, navigator, geographer and writer. His surviving journal is the source for much of what is known about the voyage of Magellan and Elcano.

Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) – His Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects is considered the first important book on art history and still remains the most famous and most-read work of the older literature of art.

Onofrio Panvinio (1529-1568) – Called the “Father of All History”. One of the most important Roman historians of his time.


Italian Historians of the Counter-Reformation and Baroque Period

Caesar Baronius (1538-1607) – Best known for his Annales Ecclesiastici, considered by some to be the greatest history of the Church ever written.

Giovanni Baglione (1566-1643) – His Lives of Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers is to this day an important historical source for artists living in Rome during Baglione's lifetime.

Giovanni Lucio (1604-1679) – The first Dalmatian historian to practice source criticism. He wrote works on the history of Dalmatia and the city of Traù.

Giovanni Pietro Bellori (1613-1696) – The most important art historian of the 17th century. His Lives of the Artists was influential in consolidating and promoting the theoretical case for classical idealism in art.

Filippo Baldinucci (1625-1697) – Considered one of the most significant biographers and art historians of the Baroque period.


Italian Historians of the Settecento

Lodovico Antonio Muratori (1672-1750) – A leading scholar of his age. Noted for his discovery of the Muratorian fragment, the earliest known list of New Testament books. His major work, Rerum Italicarum scriptores, is a large collection of sources on Italian history dating from 500 to 1500.

Daniele Farlati (1690-1773) – Best known for Illyricum Sacrum, a historical work dealing with history of the Catholic Church in the Balkans.

Giovanni Domenico Mansi (1692-1769) – Scholar, historian, theologian and bishop. Best known for his massive works on the councils of the Catholic Church.

Serafino Cerva (1696-1759) – Historian, theologian and bishop. Wrote numerous works on the history of the Republic of Ragusa. His most famous work is the Bibliotheca Ragusina, containing 453 biographies of notable Ragusans.

Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis (1712-1770) – Historian, linguist and priest. His major historical work is a history of Gozo in Malta.

Girolamo Tiraboschi (1731-1794) – The first historian of Italian literature. His major work, Storia della letteratura italiana, traces Italian literature from the time of the Etruscans to the end of the 17th century.


Italian Historians of the Napoleonic Period and Risorgimento

Vincenzo Cuoco (1770-1823) – Remembered for his Historical Essay on the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799.

Carlo Troya (1784-1858) – Historian and politician. Author of numerous works on Italian history.

Cesare Cantù (1804-1895) – Author of numerous novels, histories and historical essays. His masterpiece is the Universal History, which is considered the best work of its kind in Italian and perhaps in any language for its lucidity and rapidity of narration, unity of plan, justness of proportion and literary art.

Francesco De Sanctis (1817-1883) – One of the most important historians of Italian literature in the 19th century.


Italian Historians of the Modern Period

Bernardo Benussi (1846-1929) – One of the greatest Istrian scholars of the period. His major work, L'Istria nei suoi due millenni di storia, was the first attempt by a contemporary historian to organically trace the history of Istria in detail.

Gioacchino Volpe (1876-1971) – Historian and politician. One of the major Italian historians of the first half of the 20th century. Remembered for his works on the history of Italy.

Alessandro Dudan (1883-1957) – The most important historian of Italian art in Dalmatia.

Attilio Tamaro (1884-1956) – Historian, diplomat and journalist. Best known for his historical works on the Italian dominions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Giuseppe Praga (1893-1958) – Wrote more than one hundred books and articles on history, especially Dalmatian history. His major work is the History of Dalmatia.