Carlo Giovanni Maria Denina (1731,

Revello Revello (Arvel in Piedmontese language, Piedmontese, Revel in Occitan language, Occitan) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin and about northwest of Cuneo ...

– 5 December 1813, Paris) was an Italian historian whose unique contribution was to write a history of Italy from a “national” perspective, which significantly differed from other historians who mainly wrote from a “city state” or “localized” perspective during that time.

Biography

Carlo Denina was born at

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, in 1731, and was educated at

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are found in the su ...

and

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. In 1753 he was appointed to the chair of humanity at

Pinerolo Pinerolo (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The Lemina torrent has its source at the boundary between Pinerolo and San Pietro Val di Lemi ...

, but he was soon compelled by the influence of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

to retire from it. In 1756 he graduated as doctor in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, and began authorship with a theological treatise. Promoted to the professorship of humanity and rhetoric in the college of Turin, he published (1769–1770) his ''Delle rivoluzioni d'Italia'', the work on which his reputation is mainly founded. Collegiate honors accompanied the issue of its successive volumes, which, however, at the same time multiplied his foes and stimulated their hatred. In 1782, at

Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...

's invitation, he went to Berlin, where he remained for many years, in the course of which he published his ''Vie et régne de Frédéric II'' (Berlin, 1788) and ''La Prusse littéraire sous Frédéric II'' (3 vols., Berlin, 1790–1791). His Réponse à la question: ''Que doit-on à l'Espagne?'' (1786) defends Spain and its

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

. His ''Delle rivoluzioni della Germania'' was published at

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

in 1804, in which year he went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

as the imperial librarian, on the invitation of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. At Paris he published in 1805 his ''Tableau de la Haute Italie, et des Alpes qui l'entourent''. He died there in 1813. The French politician and poet

Joseph Aurèle de Bossi Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

studied law under his direction.

Works

Carlo Denina left a great many works, most of them in Italian, including: *1760: ''Discours sur les vicissitudes de la littérature''; *1770: ''Révolutions d'Italie'',

1769 Events January–March * February 2 – Pope Clement XIII dies, the night before preparing an order to dissolve the Jesuits.Denis De Lucca, ''Jesuits and Fortifications: The Contribution of the Jesuits to Military Architecture ...

1820 Events January–March *January 1 – A constitutionalist military insurrection at Cádiz leads to the summoning of the Spanish Parliament to meet on March 7, becoming the nominal beginning of the "Trienio Liberal" in History of Spain (1 ...

(translated by abbé Jardin from 1770) ; *1781: ''Histoire politique et littéraire de la Grèce'' ; *1788: ''Essai sur la vie de Frédéric II'', in French ; *1790: la ''Prusse littéraire sous Frédéric II'' ; *1804: ''Révolutions de la Germanie'' ; *1805: ''Histoire du Piémont''; *1805: la ''Clef des langues'' (in French) ; *1809: ''Histoire de l'Italie occidentale''.

References

External links

Carlo Denina
on Data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Denina Italian librarians 18th-century Italian historians 18th-century Italian male writers 19th-century Italian historians 19th-century Italian male writers 1731 births 1813 deaths People from the Province of Cuneo Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Writers from the Kingdom of Sardinia