Umberto Ricci (1879–1946) was an Italian academic and economist who served as the minister of education in 1945 shortly after the end of the Fascist rule in Italy. He was a leading academic and worked at various universities.

Early life and education

Ricci was born in

Chieti Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. ...

on 20 February 1879. He obtained a diploma from the Ferdinando Galiani technical-commercial institute in Chieti. Then he graduated from the Higher School of Commerce in Venice (forerunner of the

Ca' Foscari University Ca' Foscari University of Venice ( it, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, simply Università Ca' Foscari) is a public university in Venice, Italy. Since its foundation in 1868, it has been housed in the Venetian Gothic palace of Ca' Foscari, from w ...

) with a degree in political economy, finance and statistics. His fields of speciality were

agricultural economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

and general equilibrium analysis.

Career, activities and views

Following his graduation Ricci worked at the Ministry of Agriculture between 1907 and 1910. Then he joined the International Institute of Agriculture based in Rome and headed its statistics department from 1910. He published his first scholarly article in 1904 in the ''Journal of Economists''. He was the professor of statistics at the universities of

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

(1915–1918) and

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...

(1919–1921) and professor of economics at universities of

Macerata Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564. History The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza r ...

(1912),

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

(1922–1924) and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(1924–1928). Following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Ricci was named as a member of the committee of technical experts, called the “commission for the revision of balances and the reduction of public expenditures”. In addition to his academic activities, Ricci was also an active politician and became a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

. Ricci published articles in '' La Voce'', ''

L'Unità ''l'Unità'' (, lit. 'the Unity') was an Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, Democrats of ...

'' and '' La Rivoluzione Liberale''. Ricci was an ally and advisor of

Alberto de Stefani Alberto de' Stefani (6 October 1879 – 15 January 1969) was an Italian politician and economist. Coming from a background in liberalism to Benito Mussolini's fascism, De Stefani was in charge of Italian economics from 1922 to 1925. His time in ch ...

, minister of finance in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

. In March 1928 he was removed from his teaching post at the Italian universities due to his criticism of fascist economic policies. Then he left Italy and taught economics and statistics at

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

, Egypt, from October 1929 to 1940. In September 1942 he began to teach at

Istanbul University , image = Istanbul_University_logo.svg , image_size = 200px , latin_name = Universitas Istanbulensis , motto = tr, Tarihten Geleceğe Bilim Köprüsü , mottoeng = Science Bridge from Past to the Future , established = 1453 1846 1933 ...

, Turkey. There he stayed until 30 October 1945 when he returned to Italy. He was appointed minister of education in the Bonomi cabinet, replacing

Vincenzo Arangio-Ruiz Vincenzo Arangio-Ruiz (Naples 1884 - Rome 1964) was a distinguished Italian jurist and Roman Law Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twel ...

in the post.

Death

After serving as the minister of education for a brief period Ricci returned to Cairo where he died of heart attack on 3 January 1946. He was about to leave Egypt for Italy to resume his post at the Sapienza University of Rome.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ricci, Umberto 20th-century Italian economists 20th-century Italian journalists 1879 births 1946 deaths Italian male journalists Education ministers of Italy Italian statisticians Ca' Foscari University of Venice alumni University of Parma faculty University of Pisa faculty University of Macerata faculty University of Bologna faculty Sapienza University of Rome faculty Cairo University faculty Istanbul University faculty People from Chieti Italian Liberal Party politicians Italian expatriates in Egypt Italian expatriates in Turkey Italian exiles