Adolfo Omodeo (

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for it ...

, 18 August 1889 –

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, 28 April 1946) was an Italian historian and politician, who served as Minister of Public Education of the

Badoglio II Cabinet The Badoglio II government of Italy held office from 22 April until 18 June 1944, a total of 57 days, or 1 months and 27 days. It was the first government in Italian history with the presence of the socialists and the communists Communism ...

Biography

He graduated in literature and philosophy at the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo ( it, Università degli Studi di Palermo) is a university located in Palermo, Italy, and founded in 1806. It is organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although its ...

in 1912, under the guidance of

Giovanni Gentile Giovanni Gentile (; 30 May 1875 – 15 April 1944) was an Italian neo- Hegelian idealist philosopher, educator, and fascist politician. The self-styled "philosopher of Fascism", he was influential in providing an intellectual foundation for ...

, with a

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...

on Jesus and the origins of Christianity, published in 1913. In 1914 he married his fellow student Eva Zona, and in 1915 he volunteered as an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieg ...

officer in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. In 1919 he began teaching at a high school, and in 1922 he became a professor of

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history co ...

at the

University of Catania The University of Catania ( it, Università degli Studi di Catania) is a university located in Catania, Sicily. Founded in 1434, it is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy, and the 29th oldest university in the world. With a ...

. In 1923 he moved to the

University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...

, where he held the chair of

History of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish t ...

, a matter on which he published several books. He also published various works on the history of the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single s ...

, defending the theses of Cavour's liberalism against the critical alterations of the Risorgimento made by monarchist and fascist historians. In 1925 he refrained from signing either Gentile's

Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals The "Manifesto of Fascist Intellectuals" ( it, "Manifesto degli Intellettuali del Fascismo", italics=no ), by the actualist philosopher Giovanni Gentile in 1925, formally established the political and ideologic foundations of Italian Fascism. It ...

Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce (; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician, who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography and aesthetics. In most regards, Croce was a ...

’s

Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals The Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals, written by Benedetto Croce in response to the Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals by Giovanni Gentile, sanctioned the irreconcilable split between the philosopher and the Fascist government of ...

, but in 1928 he broke with his old mentor Gentile (due to a dispute over the origin of Christianity and, later, to their opposing views on the

Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty ( it, Patti Lateranensi; la, Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle ...

) and approached Croce, with whom he had begun a intensive correspondence since 1921. In 1931, as a teacher, he took an

oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. Fo ...

to Fascism imposed by the regime on penalty of losing his professorship and being excluded from teaching. After the

fall of Fascism The fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, also known in Italy as 25 Luglio ( it, Venticinque Luglio, ; "25 July"), came as a result of parallel plots led respectively by Count Dino Grandi and King Victor Emmanuel III during the spring and su ...

on 25 July 1943 Omodeo was appointed rector of the University of Naples by the new Education Minister Leonardo Severi, and joined the Action Party. From April to June 1944 he was himself appointed Minister of National Education (which with him changed back to the pre-Fascist denomination of Minister of Public Education) in the second Badoglio government. Aftetwards, from February to April 1945, he volunteered in the

Italian Liberation Corps The Italian Liberation Corps ( it, Corpo Italiano di Liberazione (CIL)) was an corps of the Italian Co-belligerent Army during the Italian campaign of World War II. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the Ita ...

"to set an example" (already in October 1943, as rector of the University of Naples, he had urged his students to follow the example "of the generation that had fought on the Karst and the Piave"). From 1945 to 1946 he was a member of the National Council. He was a member of the

Accademia dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini, Rome, Palazzo Corsini on the Vi ...

and co-director, together with his great friend Luigi Russo, of the

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evalu ...

''Belfagor''. He died in 1946 after becoming ill with

myelitis Myelitis is inflammation of the spinal cord which can disrupt the normal responses from the brain to the rest of the body, and from the rest of the body to the brain. Inflammation in the spinal cord, can cause the myelin and axon to be damaged r ...

, possibly a consequence of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

he had contracted on the Karst in 1917.Liber Liber
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Omodeo, Adolfo 1889 births 1946 deaths Government ministers of Italy Action Party (Italy) politicians Italian historians Members of the National Council (Italy) it:Adolfo Omodeo no:Adolfo Omodeo