Bompiani is an Italian publishing house based in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. It was founded in 1929 by Valentino Bompiani. In 1990, Bompiani became part of the

RCS MediaGroup RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. (formerly Rizzoli Editore and Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera), based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, ra ...

. It was sold in 2015 to the Giunti Group. It is widely regarded as one of the leading literary publishing houses in Italy.

History

Bompiani experienced attempts at

book censorship Book censorship is the act of some authority taking measures to suppress ideas and information within a book. Censorship is "the regulation of free speech and other forms of entrenched authority". Censors typically identify as either a concerned ...

by Italy's fascist government from the 1920s through the 1940s. In 1940, Valentino Bompiani was summoned to Rome to meet with

Alessandro Pavolini Alessandro Pavolini (27 September 1903 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian politician, journalist, and essayist. He was notable for his involvement in the Italian fascist government, during World War II, and, as the leader and founder of the Bl ...

, the Minister of Popular Culture. At this meeting, Pavolini told Bompiani that he must limit the number of translations that he was publishing. At the time of the meeting, Bompiani was preparing to publish an anthology of American writers. Despite being told not to do so, Bompiani moved forward with the anthology. Pavolini learned of this and wrote to Bompiani that "The United States is a potential enemy of ours...This is no time to perform acts of courtesy toward America, not even literary ones." Bompiani proceeded with publication nonetheless, soliciting a new introduction from

Emilio Cecchi Emilio Cecchi (14 July 1884 – 5 September 1966) was an Italian Literary criticism, literary critic, Art criticism, art critic and screenwriter. One English language source describes him as "an 'official' - although radically anti-academic - in ...

that sought to discourage any "excessive enthusiasm" toward America. Pavolini was placated by Cecchi's introduction and the anthology was ultimately published. In 1972 the company was bought by

Fiat Group Stellantis Europe S.p.A. (formerly Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. and FCA Italy S.p.A.), is the Italian subsidiary of the multinational automaker Stellantis, dedicated to the production and selling of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles ...

. In 1990 it became part of

. In October 2015, RCS MediaGroup sold RCS Libri, including Bompiani, to

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In ...

, Italy's largest publisher. Mondadori is owned by

Fininvest Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., also known as Fininvest, is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi. Structure The Fininvest group is com ...

, a holding company controlled by

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

. The acquisition was controversial. In March 2016,

Italian Competition Authority The Italian Competition Authority (, AGCM) is the competition regulator in Italy. It is an Italian quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization established on the basis of Law №287 of 10 October 1990. As of 2004, the Italian Competition Auth ...

ruled that Mondadori must sell Bompiani in order to comply with market-share limits. Nine companies, including

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, expressed interest in purchasing Bompiani. In September 2016, Bompiani was sold to

Giunti Editore Giunti Editore S.p.A. is an Italian publishing house founded in Florence in 1956. The company is based in Villa La Loggia, in via Bolognese, and affiliated offices in Milan. Giunti S.p.A. is the leader of a group comprising various brands and t ...

for €16.5 million.

Authors

The list of authors published by Bompiani includes 17

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winners. Authors published by Bompiani include

Alberto Moravia Alberto Pincherle (; 28 November 1907 – 26 September 1990), known by his pseudonym Alberto Moravia ( , ), was an Italian novelist and journalist. His novels explored matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism. Moravia i ...

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian Medieval studies, medievalist, philosopher, Semiotics, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular ...

Paulo Coelho Paulo Coelho de Souza ( , ; born 24 August 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters since 2002. His 1988 novel '' The Alchemist'' became an international best-seller. Early life Paulo Coelho ...

and

Yuval Noah Harari Yuval Noah Harari ( ; born 1976) is an Israeli medievalist, military historian, public intellectual, and popular science writer. He currently serves as professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His first bestse ...

among others.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Book publishing companies of Italy RCS MediaGroup Italian publishers (people)