Francesco de Sanctis (28 March 1817 – 29 December 1883) was an Italian literary critic, scholar and politician, leading critic and historian of

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

during the 19th century.

Biography

De Sanctis was born in the southern Italian town of Morra Irpina (renamed Morra De Sanctis in his honor in 1937) to a family of middle-class landowners. His father was a doctor in law and his two paternal uncles, one a priest and the other a medic, were exiled for having participated in the Carbonari Uprisings of 1820–1821. After completing his high school studies in nearby Naples, he was educated at the Italian language institute in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

founded by Marquis Basilio Puoti (1782–1847). De Sanctis later opened his own private school where he soon became recognized in academic circles for his profound knowledge of Italian literature. In 1848, he held office under the revolutionary government and was later imprisoned for three years in Naples. Following his release, de Sanctis' reputation as a lecturer in

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 ...

on Italian authors such as

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

() led to his professorship in 1856 at

ETH Zurich ETH Zurich (; ) is a public university in Zurich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. ETH Zurich ran ...

. De Sanctis returned to Naples as minister of public instruction in 1860, and filled the same post under the Italian monarchy in 1861, 1878 and 1879, having in 1861 become a deputy in the Italian chamber. In 1871, he was made professor of

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

at Naples University. De Sanctis was a supporter of

Darwinism ''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sel ...

, and lectured on the subject.Birx, H. James. (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Anthropology, Volume 1''. Sage Publications. p. 686. . As a literary critic, De Sanctis was highly regarded, notably with his '' Storia della letteratura italiana'' and his critical studies. These were published in several volumes, some of them posthumously, in Naples in 1883. De Sanctis had many faithful disciples, among whom

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. A Cultural liberalism, poli ...

achieved the most fame. His chief contribution as a

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

was to aesthetics and his influence upon Italian literary criticism remains strong to the present day.

Bibliography

*''Saggi critici'', Rondinella, Napoli, 1849. *''La prigione'', Benedetto, Torino, 1851. *''Saggi critici'', Morano, Napoli, 1869. *''Storia della letteratura italiana'', Morano, 1870. *''Un viaggio elettorale'', Morano, Napoli, 1876. *''Studio sopra Emilio Zola'', Roma, 1878. *''Nuovi saggi critici'', Morano, Napoli, 1879. *''Zola e l'assommoir'', Treves, Milano, 1879. *''Saggio sul Petrarca'', Morano, Napoli, 1883. *''Studio su G. Leopardi'', a cura di R. Bonari, Morano, Napoli, 1885. *''La giovinezza di Francesco De Sanctis'', a cura di

Pasquale Villari Pasquale Villari (3 October 1827 – 11 December 1917) was an Italian historian and politician. Early life and publications Villari was born in Naples and took part in the risings of 1848 there against the Bourbons and subsequently fled to Flo ...

, Morano, Napoli, 1889. *''Purismo illuminismo storicismo, scritti giovanili e frammenti di scuola, lezioni'', a cura di A. Marinari, 3 voll., Einaudi, Torino, 1975. *''La crisi del romanticismo, scritti dal carcere e primi saggi critici'', a cura di M. T. Lanza, introd. di G. Nicastro, Einaudi, Torino, 1972. *''Lezioni e saggi su Dante, corsi torinesi, zurighesi e saggi critici'', a cura di S. Romagnoli, Einaudi, Torino, 1955, 1967. *''Saggio critico sul Petrarca'', a cura di N. Gallo, introduzione di Natalino Sapegno, Einaudi, Torino, 1952. *''Verso il realismo, prolusioni e lezioni zurighesi sulla poesia cavalleresca, frammenti di estetica e saggi di metodo critico'', a cura di N. Borsellino, Einaudi, Torino, 1965. *''Storia della letteratura italiana'', a cura di N. Gallo, introd. di N. Sapegno, 2 voll., Einaudi, Torino, 1958. *''Manzoni'', a cura di C. Muscetta e D. Puccini, Einaudi, Torino, 1955. *''La scuola cattolica-liberale e il romanticismo a Napoli'', a cura di C. Muscetta e G. Candeloro, Einaudi, Torino, 1953. *''Mazzini e la scuola democratica'', a cura degli stessi, Einaudi, Torino, 1951, 1961. *''Leopardi'', a cura di C. Muscetta e A. Perna, Einaudi, Torino, 1961. *''L'arte, la scienza e la vita, nuovi saggi critici, conferenze e scritti vari'', a c. di M. T. Lanza, Einaudi, Torino, 1972. *''Il Mezzogiorno e lo Stato unitario, scritti e discorsi politici dal 1848 al 1870'', a c. di F. Ferri, Einaudi, Torino, 1960. *''I partiti e l'educazione della nuova Italia'', a c. di N. Cortese, Einaudi, Torino, 1970. *''Un viaggio elettorale, seguito da discorsi biografici, dal taccuino elettorale e da scritti politici vari'', a cura di N. Cortese, Einaudi, Torino, 1968. *''Epistolario (1836-1862)'' a c. di G. Ferretti, M. Mazzocchi Alemanni e G. Talamo, 4 voll., 1956-69. *''Lettere a Pasquale Villari'', a c. di F. Battaglia, Einaudi, Torino, 1955. *''Lettere politiche (1865-80)'', a c. di A. Croce e G. B. Gifuni, Ricciardi, Milano-Napoli, 1970. *''Lettere a Teresa'', a cura di A. Croce, Ricciardi, Milano-Napoli, 1954. *''Lettere a Virginia'', a cura di

, Laterza, Bari, 1917. *''Mazzini'', a cura di Vincenzo Gueglio, Genova, Fratelli Frilli, 2005. .

References

*''B. Croce'', ''Gli scritti di Francesco De Sanctis e la loro varia fortuna'', Bari, 1917. *''C. Muscetta'', nel vol. F. De Sanctis, ''Pagine sparse'', Bari, 1944. *''G. Contini'', ''Varianti e altra linguistica. Una raccolta di saggi (1938-1968)'', Torino, Einaudi, 1970, pp. 499-531 (firstly published in 1949 as introduction to F. De Sanctis, ''Scritti critici'', Torino, Utet). *''R. Wellek'', ''Storia della critica moderna'', Bologna, Il Mulino, 1969, IV, pp. 123-74 (firstly published in 1956). *''M. Fubini'', "Francesco De Sanctis e la critica letteraria", in ''Romanticismo italiano. Saggi di storia della critica e della letteratura'', Bari, Laterza, 1971, pp. 295-319 (pubblicato per la prima volta in francese nei ''Cahiers d'Histoire Mondiale'', VII, 1963,2). *''R. Wellek'', "The critical realism of Francesco De Sanctis", in ''Comparative Criticism: a Yearbook, vol. 1'', Cambridge University Press, 1979. . pp. 17-35. *''C. Dionisotti'', ''Geografia e storia della letteratura italiana'', Torino, Einaudi, 1967, pp. 12-15 e 27-30. *''C. Muscetta'', "'Francesco De Sanctis", in ''Lett. it. L.'', VIII/I, pp. 355–462. *''M. Mirri'', Francesco De Sanctis politico e storico della civiltà moderna, Messina-Firenze, D'Anna, 1961. *''S. Landucci'', ''Cultura e ideologia in Francesco De Sanctis'', Milano, Feltrinelli, 1963. *''C. Muscetta'', ''Francesco De Sanctis nella storia della cultura'', Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1958. * ''T. Iermano'', ''Introduzione'' a Francesco De Sanctis, ''Lettere a Teresa'', Salerno, Mephite, 2002. * ''T. Iermano'', ''Introduzione'' a Francesco De Sanctis, ''Un viaggio elettorale'', Cava de' Tirreni (SA), Mephite, 2007. *G. Compagnino, ''De Sanctis e Pagano'', in ''Francesco De Sanctis un secolo dopo'', a c.di A. Marinari, Roma-Bari, Laterza, Vol. I, pp. 69–129. *G. Compagnino, '' L'estetica e la "scissura nella cosa": De Sanctis e Manzoni'', in Idem, ''Forme e Storie'', Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell'Università di Catania, ''Quaderni del Siculorum Gymnasium'', Catania, 2001. *G. Compagnino, ''Hegel e la genesi del moderno nella Storia del De Sanctis'', in Idem, ''Forme e Storie'', Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell'Università di Catania, ''Quaderni del Siculorum Gymnasium'', Catania, 2001. *G. Compagnino, ''I primi capitoli della Storia del De Sanctis: oltre la crisi del classicismo'', in Idem, ''Forme e Storie'', Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell'Università di Catania, ''Quaderni del Siculorum Gymnasium'', Catania, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:De Sanctis, Francesco 1817 births 1883 deaths People from the Province of Avellino Writers from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Politicians of Campania Action Party (Italy, 1853) politicians Historical Right politicians Historical Left politicians Education ministers of Italy Deputies of Legislature VIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature IX of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature X of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XI of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XIV of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XV of the Kingdom of Italy Italian literary critics 19th-century Italian historians Italian literary historians 19th-century Italian philosophers 19th-century Italian male writers

Biography

Bibliography

References

Further reading