Leo Samuele Olschki (born Lev Samuel Olschki; 2 January 1861 – 17 June 1940) was an Italian publisher of Prussian Jewish origin.

Biography

Leo Olschki was born on 2 January 1861 in Johannisburg, a town in

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

, into a family of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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. He learned the bookseller trade in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in the historic Calvary bookshop. In 1886 he founded the Leo S. Olschki publishing house in

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, which was then moved to Venice and Florence (1897). He also subsidized newspapers such as ''Giornale Dantesco'' and ''La Cultura'', but during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he moved to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, in neutral territory. In fact, Olschki did not have Italian citizenship, having kept a German passport, and was forced into exile. In Geneva he founded the ''salso'' (acronym for ''Societé Anonime Leo S. Olschki''). In 1920, after the war, he returned to Italy. For his work, he obtained such recognition as the appointment as Commander and Knight of the Grand Cross of the Crown of Italy, but was again forced into exile due to racial laws, as a Jew. He then returned for the second time to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1939, where he died in 1940.

Bibliography

* C. Frati, ''Editori italiani: Leo S. Olschki'', in «L'Italia che scrive», IV, 1921, pp. 159–160 . * L. S. Olschki, ''Aus den Erinnerungen eines Dante-Verlegers'', in «Deutsches Dante-Jahrbuch», XV, 1915, pp. 132–140 . *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olschki, Leo Samuele 1861 births 1940 deaths Italian people of Jewish descent Italian publishers (people) People from Pisz Emigrants from the German Empire Immigrants to Italy