Pierre Milza (; 16 April 193228 February 2018) was a French historian. His work focused mainly on the history of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the history of Italian immigration to France and the history 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 ...

, of which he was a recognized specialist. He was professor emeritus at the

Paris Institute of Political Studies Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

(Sciences Po), where he taught contemporary history. He also taught for a year at the

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (, abbreviated IHEID), commonly referred to as Geneva Graduate Institute, is a graduate-level research university in Geneva, Switzerland dedicated to international relations, dev ...

in Geneva. Pierre Milza is notably the author of ''Voyage en Italie'', or "History of Italy", as well as of biographies of

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his overthrow in 194 ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

and

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

Early life

Milza was born in

Paris, France 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 ...

to Italian parents. His father, Olivier Milza, was born near Parma in

. His status as a child of immigrants motivated his studies in Italian history and Italian-French immigration. Milza first visited Italy at 16, learned Italian and began to study history.

Distinctions

* Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters * 1994: Grand Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

* 2008: Commander of the National Order of Merit * 2013: Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (named Officer in 2000) Milza was a member of the

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

Institute.

Publications

Throughout his career, Milza wrote many books about fascism and the history of Italy. In addition to these publications, Milza devoted time to writing biographies for different figures including

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

and

Independently

* * * * ** Volume I: De 1945 à 1973 ** Volume II: De 1871 à 1914 * ''Conversations Hitler-Mussolini'' * * (2 volumes) * * * * * ''Mussolini'' * * * * * ''Voltaire'' * ** Volume I: ** Volume II: * * * ''Garibaldi'' *

With Serge Berstein

Milza collaborated with fellow historian Serge Berstein to produce academic works and textbooks. * * * * * * * * (5 volume series) * * * * *

Other collaborations

* (with Marianne Amar) * (with Marie-Claude Blanc-Chaléard) * (with Marianne Benteli) * (with Antoine Marès)

References

External links

* 1932 births 2018 deaths 20th-century French historians Historians of fascism French people of Italian descent Officers of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite French male writers Historians of Italy Academic staff of Sciences Po French historians of World War II Historians of France Writers from Paris Academic staff of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies {{France-historian-stub