''Leonardo'' was a philosophy magazine published in the early twentieth century in

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 ...

, Italy, between 1903 and 1907. It was one of the publications started by

Giovanni Papini Giovanni Papini (9 January 18818 July 1956) was an Italian journalist, essayist, novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, and Italian philosophy, philosopher. A controversial literary figure of the early and mid-twentieth century, he ...

and contributed by Giuseppe Prezzolini. The magazine is also one of the periodicals which contributed to the cultural basis of the early forms of

Fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

History and profile

''Leonardo'' was started in Florence in January 1903. One of its founders was Giovanni Papini who also edited the magazine. It came out irregularly. Significant contributors included Giuseppe Prezzolini, Mario Calderoni, Giuseppe Antonio Borgese, Emilio Cecchi and

Giovanni Amendola Giovanni Amendola (15 April 1882 – 7 April 1926) was an Italian journalist, professor, and politician. He is noted as an opponent of Italian fascism. Biography Early life and education Amendola was born in Naples on 15 April 1882. He moved t ...

who also financed the magazine which featured articles on philosophical reviews and also, on literature and arts. They were called the leonardiani. The front page of the first issue contained a synthetic program which indicated the stance of the contributors, namely

personalism Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleie ...

and

idealism Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysics, metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, Spirit (vital essence), spirit, or ...

. They regarded themselves as being superior to any system and to every limit. In addition, the magazine frequently covered articles attacking

positivism Positivism is a philosophical school that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positivemeaning '' a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. Gerber, ''Soci ...

, particularly during the early years. Official philosophical stance of the magazine appeared to be

pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics� ...

at the end of the first year of existence. ''Leonardo'' was closed by Giovanni Papini and Giuseppe Prezzolini in 1907 due to the fact that it was becoming a commercial and mainstream publication because of its popularity and success.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardo 1903 establishments in Italy 1907 disestablishments in Italy Defunct literary magazines published in Italy Irregularly published magazines Defunct Italian-language magazines Magazines established in 1903 Magazines disestablished in 1907 Magazines published in Florence Philosophy magazines Pragmatism