Franco Venturi
Encyclopedia
Franco Venturi was an Italian historian
, essayist and journalist
, a scholar of the Enlightenment
in Italy and of the history of Russia
, and an anti-fascist active in the Resistance
.
where he won the competition to fill the chair of Film Director at the University
. The younger Venturi attended Liceo classico Cavour
and during the Resistance and later was active in the ranks of the Action Party
; he was captured and subjected to confinement in Avigliano
between 1941 and 1943.
In addition, he published a volume of his selected essays, under the title Italy and the Enlightenment: Studies in a Cosmopolitan Century. In 1969, he gave the G. M. Trevelyan
lectures at Cambridge University, published in 1971 as Utopia and Reform in the Enlightenment.
Other than his work on the Enlightenment, Venturi made his greatest contributions in the field of 19th-century Russian history, concentrating on the history of ideas:
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, essayist and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, a scholar of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
in Italy and of the history of Russia
History of Russia
The history of Russia begins with that of the Eastern Slavs and the Finno-Ugric peoples. The state of Garðaríki , which was centered in Novgorod and included the entire areas inhabited by Ilmen Slavs, Veps and Votes, was established by the Varangian chieftain Rurik in 862...
, and an anti-fascist active in the Resistance
Italian resistance movement
The Italian resistance is the umbrella term for the various partisan forces formed by pro-Allied Italians during World War II...
.
Life
In 1915, the year after Venturi was born, his father Lionello Venturi, having had his frustration reach its maximum point, decided to start another family in TurinTurin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
where he won the competition to fill the chair of Film Director at the University
University of Turin
The University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...
. The younger Venturi attended Liceo classico Cavour
Liceo classico Cavour
Liceo Ginnasio statale "Camillo Benso di Cavour" is the oldest Liceo classico in Turin and one among the oldest and most prominent high schools in Italy, for boys aged 14 to 19. It was transferred to its present location in 1931.-History:...
and during the Resistance and later was active in the ranks of the Action Party
Partito d'Azione
-History:It was an anti-fascist political party in the tradition of Giuseppe Mazzini and the Risorgimento. Founded in July 1942 by former militants of Giustizia e Libertà , liberal socialists, democrats...
; he was captured and subjected to confinement in Avigliano
Avigliano
Avigliano is the name of two Italian towns:*Avigliano, Basilicata in the Province of Potenza, Basilicata*Avigliano Umbro in the Province of Terni, UmbriaThere is also an Avigliana in the Province of Turin, Piedmont....
between 1941 and 1943.
Career
Venturi's greatest achievement is his multivolume work Settecento Riformatore, of which three volumes have been translated into English under the general series title The End of the Old Regime in Europe- The End of the Old Regime in Europe, 1768-1776: The First Crisis
- The End of the Old Regime in Europe, 1776–1789, I: The Great States of the West
- The End of the Old Regime in Europe, 1776–1789, II: Republican Patriotism and the Empires of the East
In addition, he published a volume of his selected essays, under the title Italy and the Enlightenment: Studies in a Cosmopolitan Century. In 1969, he gave the G. M. Trevelyan
G. M. Trevelyan
George Macaulay Trevelyan, OM, CBE, FRS, FBA , was a British historian. Trevelyan was the third son of Sir George Otto Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and great-nephew of Thomas Babington Macaulay, whose staunch liberal Whig principles he espoused in accessible works of literate narrative avoiding a...
lectures at Cambridge University, published in 1971 as Utopia and Reform in the Enlightenment.
Other than his work on the Enlightenment, Venturi made his greatest contributions in the field of 19th-century Russian history, concentrating on the history of ideas:
- The Roots of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in 19th Century Russia
- Studies in Free Russia