Franco Venturi facts for kids

Franco Venturi (born in Rome in 1914, died in Turin in 1994) was an important Italian historian, writer, and journalist. He was a great expert on a period called the Enlightenment in Italy. He also studied the history of Russia. Venturi was against fascism and was active in the Resistance, a group that fought against the fascists during World War II.

His Life Story

Franco Venturi was born in 1914. The next year, his father, Lionello Venturi, moved the family to Turin. There, his father became a professor at the University of Turin. Franco Venturi went to Liceo classico Cavour, a high school. During World War II, he joined the Action Party, a group that resisted the fascist government. Because of his actions, he was held in a special place in Avigliano between 1941 and 1943.

What He Studied

Venturi's biggest achievement was a large series of books called Settecento Riformatore. This title means "Reforming Eighteenth Century." Three of these books were translated into English with the main title The End of the Old Regime in Europe.

These books include:

• 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

He also published a book of his best essays called Italy and the Enlightenment: Studies in a Cosmopolitan Century. In 1969, he gave special lectures at Cambridge University. These talks were later published as a book called Utopia and Reform in the Enlightenment.

Besides his work on the Enlightenment, Venturi also made big contributions to the history of 19th-century Russia. He focused on the history of ideas in Russia.

His books on Russia include:

• Roots of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in 19th Century Russia
• Studies in Free Russia

His Impact

Franco Venturi influenced many other thinkers. For example, the Italian philosopher Edoardo Grendi studied with Venturi. Grendi later moved to the London School of Economics. He continued to study the history of groups in Italy, especially religious groups called confraternities. He found that these groups were started by people's natural devotion, not by church leaders. These groups were very important for people's spiritual life in Liguria until Napoleon ordered them to be closed during the Enlightenment.

See also

In Spanish: Franco Venturi para niños