In addition to the approximately 55 million Italians living in Italy (91% of the Italian national population), Italian-speaking groups are found in neighboring nations, including Switzerland, France, the regions of Istria and Dalmatia, and the entire population of San Marino. Due to the wide-ranging diaspora of Italians following Italian unification, World War I, and World War II, over 5 million Italian citizens live outside of Italy and over 80 million people around the world claim full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest Italian diaspora communities are found in Brazil (15% of Brazilians), Argentina (60% of Argentinians), the United States, and Canada.
Look up Italianor italiano in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The Latin name "Italia" may have been borrowed via Greek from the OscanVíteliú ("land of calves"). Accounts by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Aristotle, and Thucydides reference this etymology, together with the legend that Italy was named after legendary King Italus. According to Antiochus of Syracuse, the Greeks initially used the term Italy to refer only to the southern portion of the Bruttium peninsula (corresponding to parts of the modern provinces of Reggio, Catanzaro, and Vibo Valentia); however, over time, the Greeks gradually came to apply the name "Italia" to a larger region including Lucania and Calabria.
Roman historian Cato the Elder described Italy as the entire peninsula south of the Alps, which he said formed the "walls of Italy". In the 260s BCE, Roman Italy extended from the Arno and Rubicon rivers to the entire south. The northern area of Cisalpine Gaul was occupied by Rome in the 220s BC and became considered geographically and de facto part of Italy, but remained politically and de jure separated until Octavian legally merged it into the administrative unit of Italy in 42 BCE. Under Emperor Diocletian, Italy was further enlarged to include the three big islands of the western Mediterranean Sea: Sicily (with the Maltese archipelago), Sardinia, and Corsica. All its inhabitants were considered Italic and Roman.
The Latin term Italicus was used to describe "a man of Italy" as opposed to a provincial from the greater Roman provinces. The Greeks likewise used terms such as Ἰταλικοί (Italikoi) and Ἰταλιώτης (Italiotes) to refer to the peoples and inhabitants of Italy. The adjective Italianus emerged in the medieval period and was used as an alternative alongside Italicus into the early modern period.
The Capitoline Wolf (Italian: Lupa Capitolina) is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. The image of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus is a symbol of Rome since ancient times, and one of the most recognizable icons of ancient mythology.
For two centuries following the Lombard invasion, the popes opposed foreign rule in Italy. They ultimately defeated the Lombards, with the aid of two Frankish kings, Pepin and Charlemagne, and established the Papal States in central Italy in 756.[citation needed] To cement the Church's alliance with Charlemagne, Pope Leo III crowned him the Roman Emperor in 800. Members of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule Italy, and this Kingdom of Italy became part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 10th century.[citation needed]
From the 11th century on, Italian cities rapidly grew in independence and importance, becoming centers of political life, banking, and foreign trade. Many, including Florence, Rome, Genoa, Milan, Pisa, Siena and Venice, grew into nearly independent city-states and maritime republics, each with its own foreign policy and trade. By the 14th and 15th centuries, some Italian city-states, such as Venice and Florence, ranked among the most influential powers in Europe.[citation needed] The Italian merchant cities acted as a gateway for goods and ideas from the Byzantine and Islamic world into Europe; the Renaissance began in Florence in the 14th century and led to an unparalleled flourishing of the arts, literature, music, and science.
The Italian explorer Christopher Columbus leads an expedition to the New World, 1492. His voyages are celebrated as the discovery of the Americas from a European perspective, and they opened a new era in the history of humankind and sustained contact between the two worlds.Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer from whose name the term "America" is derived
The French Revolution began in 1789 and immediately found supporters among the Italian people. After the French king was overthrown and France became a republic, secret clubs favouring an Italian republic were formed throughout Italy.[citation needed] In 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte led a French army into northern Italy and drove out its Austrian rulers. Napoleon made himself emperor in 1804; parts of northern and central Italy were unified under the name of the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as king, the rest was annexed by France.[citation needed] French domination, which lasted less than 20 years, brought representative assemblies and new laws that were uniform across the country; for the first time since ancient Rome, Italians from different regions were using the same money and served in the same army. Many Italians began to see the possibility of a united Italy free of foreign control.[citation needed]
Italian troops occupied Rome in 1870, and in July 1871, it formally became the capital of the kingdom.[citation needed]Pope Pius IX, a longtime rival of Italian kings, stated he had been made a "prisoner" inside the Vatican walls and refused to cooperate with the royal administration. Only in 1929 did the pope accept the unified Italy with Rome as its capital.
Due to historic demographic shifts in the Italian peninsula throughout history, its geographical position in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, and Italy's regional ethnic diversity since ancient times, modern Italians are genetically diverse.
The first wave of Indo-European migrations into Italy in the Bronze Age occurred from Central Europe (e.g. the Bell Beaker culture), followed by the Italo-Celts (e.g. the Celtic-speaking Canegrate culture and the Italic-speaking Proto-Villanovan culture, both deriving from the Proto-Italo-Celtic Urnfield culture). Recent DNA studies confirmed the arrival of Steppe-related ancestry in Northern Italy to at least 2000 BCE and in Central Italy by 1600 BCE, with this ancestry component increasing through time. In the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, Celtic-speaking La Tène and Hallstatt cultures spread over a large part of Italy, with related archeological artifacts found as far south as Apulia. Italics occupied northeastern, southern, and central Italy. The "West Italic" group (including the Latins) were the first wave. Major tribes included the Latins and Falisci in Lazio; the Oenotrians and Italii in Calabria; the Ausones, Aurunci and Opici in Campania; and perhaps the Veneti in Veneto and the Sicels in Sicily. They were followed, and largely displaced by the East Italic (Osco-Umbrians) group.
During the Iron Age, prior to Roman rule, Italy was predominantly inhabited by Italic tribes. The peoples living in the area of modern Italy and the islands were:
By the beginning of the Iron Age, the Etruscans had emerged as the dominant civilization on the Italian peninsula. The Etruscans, expanded from Etruria over a large part of Italy, covering what is now Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio, as well as what are now the Po Valley, Emilia-Romagna, south-eastern Lombardy, southern Veneto, and western Campania. Ancient authors report several hypotheses for the origin of the Etruscans, including that they came from the Aegean Sea. Modern archaeological and genetic research concluded that the Etruscans were autochthonous and had a genetic profile similar to their Latin neighbors, notably lacking recent admixture with Anatolia or the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Ligures were one of the oldest populations in Italy and Western Europe, possibly of Pre-Indo-European origin. According to Strabo, they were not Celts but later became influenced by the Celtic culture of their neighbours, and thus are sometimes referred to as Celticized Ligurians or Celto-Ligurians. Their language had similarities to both Italic (Latin and the Osco-Umbrian languages) and Celtic (Gaulish). They primarily inhabited the regions of Liguria, Piedmont, northern Tuscany, western Lombardy, western Emilia-Romagna and northern Sardinia, but are believed to have once occupied an even larger portion of ancient Italy as far south as Sicily. They were also settled in Corsica and in the Provence region along the southern coast of modern France.
Beginning in the 8th century BCE, Greeks arrived in Italy and founded cities along the coast of southern Italy and eastern Sicily, which became known as Magna Graecia ("Greater Greece"). The Greeks were frequently at war with the native Italic tribes, but nonetheless managed to Hellenize and assimilate much of the indigenous population located along eastern Sicily and the Southern coasts of the Italian mainland. According to Beloch, the number of Greek citizens in southern Italy reached only 80,000 to 90,000 at most, while the local people subjected by the Greeks were between 400,000 and 600,000. By the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, Greek power in Italy was challenged and began to decline, and many Greeks were pushed out of peninsular Italy by the native Oscan, Brutti, and Lucani tribes.
A mounted Lucanian warrior, fresco from a tomb of Paestum, Italy, c. 360 BC
The Gauls crossed the Alps and invaded northern Italy in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, settling in the area that became known as Cisalpine Gaul. Although named after the Gauls, the region was mostly inhabited by indigenous tribes, namely the Ligures, Etruscans, Euganei, and Veneti. Estimates by Beloch and Brunt suggest that in the 3rd century BCE, Gaulish settlers in north Italy numbered between 130,000 and 140,000 out of a total population of about 1.4 million. The northern half of Cisalpine Gaul was already inhabited by the Celtic Lepontii since the Bronze Age. Speaking about the Alpine region, the Greek historian Strabo, wrote:
The Alps are inhabited by numerous nations, but all Keltic with the exception of the Ligurians, and these, though of a different race, closely resemble them in their manner of life.
According to Pliny and Livy, after the invasion of the Gauls, some of the Etruscans living in the Po Valley sought refuge in the Alps and became known as the Raeti. The Raeti inhabited the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, as well as eastern Switzerland and Tyrol in western Austria. The Ladins of north-eastern Italy and the Romansh people of Switzerland are said to be descended from the Raeti.
The Cispadane peoples occupy all that country which is encircled by the Apennine Mountains towards the Alps as far as Genua and Sabata. The greater part of the country used to be occupied by the Boii, Ligures, Senones, and Gaesatae; but since the Boii have been driven out, and since both the Gaesatae and the Senones have been annihilated, only the Ligurian tribes and the Roman colonies are left.
The Boii, the most powerful and numerous of the Gallic tribes, were expelled by the Romans after 191 BCE and settled in Bohemia, while the Insubres still lived in Mediolanum in the 1st century BCE.
Latin colonies were founded at Ariminum in 268 BCE and at Firmum in 264 BCE, while large numbers of Picentes, who previously inhabited the region, were moved to Paestum and settled along the river Silarus in Campania. Between 180 and 179 BCE, 47,000 Ligures belonging to the Apuani tribe were removed from their home along the modern Ligurian-Tuscan border and deported to Samnium, an area corresponding to inland Campania, while Latin colonies were established in their place at Pisa, Lucca and Luni. Such population movements contributed to the rapid Romanization and Latinization of Italy.
During the Imperial period, the dominant genetic trend for Rome and Central Italy was a notable shift towards Eastern Mediterranean ancestry, with an increase in a Neolithic Iranian component of individuals in samples found in these areas compared to those from the Bronze Age. Studies have found that there was considerably more genetic influence from the Eastern Mediterranean than other parts of the Roman empire found in the Imperial Roman samples .
Middle Ages
Lombard (Northern Italian) colonies of Sicily: in light blue: the cities where Gallo-Italic language is spoken today.
In dark blue: the cities where there is a good influence of the Gallo-Italic language.
In purple: ancient Gallo-Italic colonies, the influence in these cities is variable, also some districts of Messina were colonized.
A large Germanic confederation of Sciri, Heruli, Turcilingi, and Rugians, led by Odoacer, invaded and settled Italy in 476 CE. They were preceded by the Alemanni, including 30,000 warriors with their families, who settled in the Po Valley in 371 CE, and by Burgundians who settled between Northwestern Italy and Southern France in 443 CE. The Germanic tribe of the Ostrogoths led by Theodoric the Great conquered Italy and, in order to legitimize their rule to Roman subjects who believed in the superiority of Roman culture over foreign "barbarian" culture, created a blended Romano-Germanic culture. Since Italy had a population of several million, the Goths did not constitute a significant addition to the local population: at most, several thousand Ostrogoths in a population of 6 or 7 million. After the Gothic War, which devastated the local population, the Ostrogoths were defeated. Nevertheless, according to Roman historian Procopius of Caesarea, the Ostrogothic population was allowed to live peacefully in Italy with their Rugian allies under Roman sovereignty.
In the sixth century, another Germanic tribe known as the Longobards invaded Italy, which in the meantime had been reconquered by the East Roman or Byzantine Empire. The Longobards were a small minority compared to the roughly 4 million inhabitants of Italy at the time. They were later followed by the Bavarians and the Franks, who conquered and ruled most of Italy. Some groups of Slavs settled in parts of the northern Italian Peninsula between the 7th and 8th centuries, while Bulgars led by Alcek settled in Sepino, Bojano, and Isernia. These Bulgars preserved their speech and identity until the late 8th century.
Map of Tuscan settlements in Sicily.
Following Roman rule, Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia were conquered by the Vandals, then by the Ostrogoths, and finally by the Byzantines. Sicily was later invaded by the Arabs in the 9th century and the Normans in the 11th century, leading to the formation of a unique Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture in Sicily.
During the subsequent Swabian rule under the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, who spent most of his life as king of Sicily in his court in Palermo, Moors were progressively eradicated until the massive deportation of the last Muslims of Sicily. As a result of the Arab expulsion, many towns across Sicily were left depopulated. By the 12th century, Swabian kings granted immigrants from northern Italy (particularly Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria), Latium and Tuscany in central Italy, and French regions of Normandy, Provence and Brittany (all collectively known as Lombards.) settlement into Sicily, re-establishing the Latin element into the island, a legacy which can be seen in the many Gallo-Italic dialects and towns found in the interior and western parts of Sicily, brought by these settlers. Before them, other Lombards arrived in Sicily, with an expedition departed in 1038, led by the Byzantine commander George Maniakes, which for a very short time managed to snatch Messina and Syracuse from Arab rule. The Lombards who arrived with the Byzantines settled in Maniace, Randazzo and Troina, while a group of Genoese and other Lombards from Liguria settled in Caltagirone. After the marriage between the Norman Roger I of Sicily and Adelaide del Vasto, descendant of the Aleramici family, many Northern Italian colonisers (known collectively as Lombards) left their homeland, in the Aleramici's possessions in Piedmont and Liguria (then known as Lombardy), to settle on the island of Sicily. It is believed that the Lombard immigrants in Sicily over a couple of centuries were a total of about 200,000. An estimated 20,000 Swabians and 40,000 Normans settled in the southern half of Italy during the 10th and 11th centuries. Additional Tuscan migrants settled in Sicily after the Florentine conquest of Pisa in 1406.
Some of the Muslims expelled by the Normans were deported to Lucera (Lugêrah, as it was known in Arabic). Their numbers eventually reached between 15,000 and 20,000, leading Lucera to be called Lucaera Saracenorum because it represented the last stronghold of Islamic presence in Italy. The colony thrived for 75 years until it was sacked in 1300 by Christian forces under the command of the AngevinCharles II of Naples. The city's Muslim inhabitants were exiled or sold into slavery. After the expulsions of Muslims in Lucera, Charles II replaced Lucera's Saracens with Christians, chiefly Burgundian and Provençal soldiers and farmers, following an initial settlement of 140 Provençal families in 1273. A remnant of the descendants of these Provençal colonists, still speaking a Franco-Provençal dialect, has survived until the present day in the villages of Faeto and Celle di San Vito.
Modern period
Giuseppe Mazzini(left), highly influential leader of the Italian revolutionary movement; and Giuseppe Garibaldi(right), celebrated as one of the greatest generals of modern times and as the "Hero of the Two Worlds", who commanded and fought in many military campaigns that led to Italian unification
Substantial migrations of Lombards to Naples, Rome, and Palermo continued in the 16th and 17th centuries, driven by the constant overcrowding in the north. Minor but significant settlements of Slavs and Arbereshe in Italy have been recorded, while Scottish soldiers – the Garde Ecossaise – who served the French King, Francis I, settled in the mountains of Piedmont.
The geographical and cultural proximity with Southern Italy pushed Albanians to cross the Strait of Otranto, especially after Skanderbeg's death and the conquest of the Balkans by the Ottomans. In defense of the Christian religion and in search of soldiers loyal to the Spanish crown, Alfonso V of Aragon, also king of Naples, invited Arbereshe soldiers to move to Italy with their families. In return the king guaranteed to Albanians lots of land and a favourable taxation.[citation needed]
Arbereshe and Schiavoni were used to repopulate abandoned villages or villages whose population had died in earthquakes, plagues and other catastrophes. Albanian soldiers were also used to quell rebellions in Calabria. Slavic colonies were established in eastern Friuli, Sicily and Molise (Molise Croats).
Between the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period, there were several waves of immigration of Albanians into Italy, in addition to another in the 20th century. The descendants of these Albanian emigrants, many still retaining the Albanian language, the Arbëresh dialect, have survived throughout southern Italy, numbering about 260,000 people, with roughly 80,000 to 100,000 speaking the Albanian language.
Italian Surnames
Most of Italy's surnames (cognomi), with the exception of a few areas marked by linguistic minorities, derive from Italian. Many are derived from an individual's physical qualities (e.g. Rossi, Bianchi, Quattrocchi, Mancini, Grasso, etc.), occupation (Ferrari, Auditore, Sartori, Tagliabue, etc.), fatherhood or lack thereof (De Pretis, Orfanelli, Esposito, Trovato, etc.), and geographic location (Padovano, Pisano, Leccese, Lucchese, etc.). Some of them also indicate a remote foreign origin (Greco, Tedesco, Moro, Albanese, etc.).
Italian migration outside Italy occurred over centuries in a series of migration cycles. A large diaspora took place after Italy's unification in 1861 and continued through 1914 with the lead up to the First World War. One major motivation for emigrants at this time was a post-unification economic slump within Italy (except for the "industrial triangle" between Milan, Genoa and Turin) that coincided with a boom in industrialization, urbanization, and economic expansion elsewhere in the world, which provided better economic opportunities. Large-scale emigration continued through the late 1920s, well into the Fascist regime, and a subsequent wave was observed after the end of the Second World War. Another wave of migration outside Italy began in the 21st century and is still ongoing, caused by the debt crisis in Italy.
Napoleon, the most notable Italian French personality. He was ethnically Italian of Corsican origin, and his family was of Genoese and Tuscan ancestry.
Over 80 million people claiming full or partial Italian descent live outside Italy. A majority of these, about 50 million total, live in South America. Brazil has the largest number of Italian descendants outside Italy, and in Argentina, over 62.5% of the country's population has at least one Italian ancestor. Another 23 million Italian descendants live in North America (United States and Canada), 7 to 8 million in other parts of Europe (primarily in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), and another 1 million in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand). To a lesser extent, people of full or partial Italian descent are also found in Africa (particularly in the former Italian colonies of Eritrea, Somalia, Libya, and Ethiopia; and in others countries such as South Africa, Tunisia, and Egypt), in the Middle East (such as the United Arab Emirates with 10,000 Italian immigrants), and in Asia (Singapore is home to a sizeable Italian community).
World map of first level subdivisions (states, counties, provinces, etc.) that are home to Little Italys or Italian neighbourhoods
Italy became a seat of learning in 1088 with the establishment of the University of Bologna, the first university and the oldest in continuous operation. The Schola Medica Salernitana, in southern Italy, the first medical school in Europe, and many other centers of higher education followed. The European Renaissance began in Italy and was powered by leading Italian painters, sculptors, architects, scientists, literature authors, and music composers. Italy continued to influence European cultural throughout the Baroque period and into the Romantic period, with a strong Italian presence in music.
The country contains several world-famous cities. Rome was the capital of the ancient Roman Empire, the seat of the Pope of the Catholic Church, and the capital of reunified Italy. Florence was the heart of the Renaissance. Turin, which used to be the capital of Italy, is a center of automobile engineering.[citation needed]Milan is the industrial and financial capital of Italy and one of the world's fashion capitals.[citation needed]Venice's intricate canal system attracts tourists from all over the world especially during the Venetian Carnival and the Biennale.[citation needed]Naples has the largest historic city center in Europe and the world's oldest continuously active public opera house.[citation needed] Due to its relatively late national unification and the historical autonomy of the regions that comprise the Italian peninsula, many Italian traditions and customs can be identified by their regions of origin.
Italian literature had a significant influence on Western philosophy, from the ancient Greeks and Romans, to the Rinascimento, to the Enlightenment, to modern philosophy.
Major Italian cities like Rome, Milan, Venice, Padua, Bologna and Naples – which hosted important universities and an abundance of coffeeshops, which became hubs for intellectual conversation – were centers of scholarship in Enlightenment Europe. Italy was the home of several important philosophers, such as Giambattista Vico (who is widely considered the founder of modern Italian philosophy) and Antonio Genovesi; scientists such as Alessandro Volta and Luigi Galvani; Cesare Beccaria (considered one of the fathers of classical criminal theory and modern penology, who penned one of the earliest prominent condemnations of torture and th edeath penalty).
Formal Latin literature began in 240 BC, when the first stage play was performed in Rome. The Romans were famous for their poets, dramatists, orators, philosophers, and historians; important figures included Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger, Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid, and Livy.
Alessandro Manzoni is famous for the novel The Betrothed (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature. He contributed to the nationwide use of the Italian language.
The legal and social status of Italian women has undergone rapid transformations and changes during the past decades. This includes family laws, the enactment of anti-discrimination measures, and reforms to the penal code (in particular with regard to crimes of violence against women). After World War II, women were given the right to vote in 1946 Italian institutional referendum. The new Italian Constitution of 1948 affirmed that women had equal rights. It was not however until the 1970s that women in Italy scored some major achievements with the introduction of laws regulating divorce (1970), abortion (1978), and the approval in 1975 of the new family code. Today, women have the same legal rights as men in Italy, and have mainly the same job, business, and education opportunities.
Since the Roman Empire, most western contributions to Western legal culture was the emergence of a class of Roman jurists.[clarification needed] During the Middle Ages, Saint Thomas Aquinas integrated the theory of natural law with the notion of an eternal and Biblical law. During the Renaissance, Professor Alberico Gentili, the founder of the science of international law, authored the first treatise on public international law, and separated secular law from canon law and Catholic theology.[citation needed]Enlightenment's greatest legal theorists, Cesare Beccaria, Giambattista Vico and Francesco Mario Pagano, are remembered for their legal works, particularly on criminal law.[citation needed]Francesco Carrara, an advocate of abolition of the death penalty, was one of the foremost European criminal lawyers of the 19th century.[citation needed] During the last periods, numerous Italians have been recognised as prominent prosecutor magistrates.[citation needed]
In the post-World War II period, Italy saw a transformation from an agriculture-based economy, which had been severely affected by the consequences of the World Wars, into one of the world's leading countries in world trade and exports. Italy is the seventh-largest manufacturing country, characterised by many small and medium-sized enterprises, with fewer global multinational corporations than other economies of comparable size. Italy is a large manufacturer and exporter of machinery, vehicles, pharmaceuticals, furniture, food, clothing, and other products.
Roman art was influenced by the art of ancient Greece, but Roman painting does have unique characteristics. The only surviving Roman paintings are wall paintings, many from villas in Campania, in Southern Italy. Such paintings can be grouped into four main "styles" or periods and may contain the first examples of trompe-l'œil, pseudo-perspective, and pure landscape. Panel painting became more common in Italy during the Romanesque period, under the heavy influence of Byzantine icons.[citation needed]Medieval art and Gothic painting trended towards realism, with interest in the depiction of volume and perspective, notably by Cimabue and then his pupil Giotto.[citation needed]
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the High Renaissance gave rise to a stylised art known as mannerism. In place of the balanced compositions and rational approach to perspective that characterised the early Renaissance, the Mannerists sought instability, artifice, and doubt.[citation needed] The unperturbed faces and gestures of Piero della Francesca and the calm Virgins of Raphael are replaced by the troubled expressions of Pontormo and the emotional intensity of El Greco.[citation needed][tone]
Several instruments associated with classical music, including the piano and violin, were invented in Italy; and many of the prevailing classical music forms, such as the symphony, concerto, and sonata, can trace their roots back to innovations of 16th- and 17th-century Italian music. Italian opera was founded in the early 17th century in cities such as Mantua and Venice, and has been influential on the Western opera tradition.
The traditions of Italian theatre have their origins in the ancient Greek colonies of Magna Graecia in Southern Italy and the theatre of the Italic peoples and ancient Rome. During the Middle Ages, Italian theatre was expansive, comprising the dramatization of Catholic liturgies, the court performances of jesters, the songs of troubadours, and public city festivals. Renaissance theatre was marked by a resurgence of the classics; ancient theatrical texts were re-discovered, translated from Latin to Italian, and performed. The cities of Ferrara and Rome played a prominent role in the rediscovery and renewal of theatrical art in the fifteenth century.
Dario Fo, one of the most widely performed playwrights in modern theatre, received international acclaim for his highly improvisational style. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997.
From the 16th to 18th century, commedia dell'arte was a popular form of improvisational theatre. Traveling troupes of players would set up an outdoor stage and provide entertainment in the form of juggling, acrobatics, and humorous plays called canovaccio. Actors improvised the performance from loose scenarios called lazzi, that provided the basic situation and plot. Actors relied on a repertoire of stock characters, such as foolish old men, devious servants, or military officers full of false bravado.
The ballet dance genre also originated in Italy. It began during the Italian Renaissance as a form of entertainment at court weddings. At first, ballets were woven into the midst of an opera, providing the audience a moment of relief from the opera's dramatic intensity. By the 17th century, Italian ballets were performed in their entirety in between the acts of an opera, and had become a popular dance form in their own right by the 1800s.
Federico Fellini, considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers in the history of cinema
The history of Italian cinema began in the late 1800s, a few months after the Lumière brothers started motion picture exhibitions. The first Italian director was Vittorio Calcina, a collaborator of the Lumières, who filmed Pope Leo XIII in 1896. In the 1910s the Italian film industry developed rapidly. Cabiria, a 1914 Italian epic film directed by Giovanni Pastrone, is considered the most famous Italian silent film. It was also the first film in history to be shown in the White House. The oldest European avant-garde cinema movement, Italian futurism, took place in the late 1910s. After a period of decline in the 1920s, the Italian film industry was revitalized in the 1930s with the arrival of sound film. Popular Italian genres during this period were the Telefoni Bianchi, consisting of comedies with glamorous backgrounds, and Calligrafismo, with its artistic, highly formalistic, and expressive styling.
Vittorio De Sica, one of the world's most acclaimed and influential filmmakers of all time
Sergio Leone, widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema
In chemistry, Giulio Natta, the inventor of the first catalyst for the production of isotactic propylene, received the 1963 Nobel prize for Chemistry along with Karl Ziegler, for their work on high polymers.
"Not only in consideration of his deep learning and critical research, but above all as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize his poetic masterpieces".
"For her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general."
"For his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons."
"For his discoveries relating to synthetic compounds that inhibit the action of certain body substances, and especially their action on the vascular system and the skeletal muscles."
"For his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has interpreted human values under the sign of an outlook on life with no illusions."
One of the main characteristics of Italian cuisine is its simplicity, with many dishes made up of few ingredients, and therefore Italian cooks often rely on the quality of the ingredients, rather than the complexity of preparation. The most popular dishes and recipes, over the centuries, have often been created by ordinary people moreso than by chefs, which is why many Italian recipes are suitable for home and daily cooking.
Milan, Florence, and Rome are Italy's main fashion capitals. Although most of the oldest Italian couturiers are based in Rome, Milan is seen as the fashion capital of Italy because many well-known designers are based there and it is the venue for the Italian designer collections. Major Italian fashion labels, such as Gucci, Armani, Prada, Versace, Curiel, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Fendi, Moschino, Max Mara, Trussardi, Benetton, and Ferragamo, to name a few, are regarded among the finest fashion houses in the world. Accessory and jewelry labels, such as Bulgari, Luxottica, and Buccellati were founded in Italy and are internationally acclaimed. The fashion magazine Vogue Italia is considered one of the most prestigious fashion magazines in the world.
Italy is also prominent in the field of design, notably in interior design, architectural design, industrial design, and urban design. The country has produced some well-known furniture designers, such as Gio Ponti and Ettore Sottsass, and Italian phrases such as Bel Disegno and Linea Italiana have entered the vocabulary of furniture design. Examples of classic pieces of Italian white goods and pieces of furniture include Zanussi's washing machines and fridges, the "New Tone" sofas by Atrium, and the post-modern bookcase by Ettore Sottsass, inspired by Bob Dylan's song "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again". Milan and Turin are the nation's leaders in architectural design and industrial design. Milan hosts the FieraMilano, Europe's biggest design fair, the Fuori Salone, and the Salone del Mobile, and has been home to the designers Bruno Munari, Lucio Fontana, Enrico Castellani, and Piero Manzoni.
Rugby union was imported from France in the 1910s and has been regularly played since the 1920s. By the 1990s, when the Italian national team managed to beat historically dominant teams like Scotland, Ireland, and France, Italy gained admission to the Five Nation Championship, which had to be renamed Six Nations as a result.[citation needed] Italy has taken part in the Rugby World Cup since its inauguration in 1987 and never missed an edition, although to date it has never progressed past the group stage.[citation needed]
Giacomo Agostini, the most successful motorcyclist in the history of the World Championship
12Departamento de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad Nacional de La Matanza (14 November 2011). "Historias de inmigrantes italianos en Argentina". infouniversidades.siu.edu.ar (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2018. Se estima que en la actualidad, el 90% de la población argentina tiene alguna ascendencia europea y que al menos 25 millones están relacionados con algún inmigrante de Italia.
↑Galileo Galilei, Lettera di Galileo Galilei agl'Illustrissimi e Potentiss. Signori Ordini Generali delle confederate Provincie Belgiche, 1636, in Opere di Galileo Galilei, Società tipografica de' classici italiani, 1811, p. 268
↑Related Articles (2 January 2009). "Italian cuisine". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
↑Pallottino, Massimo (1991). A History of Earliest Italy. Translated by Ryle, Martin; Soper, Kate. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. p.50. ISBN978-0-472-10097-2.
↑Brizzi, Giovanni (2012). Roma. Potere e identità dalle origini alla nascita dell'impero cristiano (in Italian). Bologna: Pàtron Ed. p.94. ISBN978-88-555-3153-5.
↑Laffi, Umberto (1992). "La provincia della Gallia Cisalpina". Athenaeum (in Italian) (80): 5–23.
↑Aurigemma, Salvatore. "Gallia Cisalpina". treccani.it (in Italian). Enciclopedia Italiana. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
↑"Il Comune Medievale". Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
↑Wiseman, Timothy (1999). Remus. Un mito di Roma (in Italian). Quasar. p.xiii. ISBN978-88-7140-148-5.
↑Though the modern state of Italy had yet to be established, the Latin equivalent of the term Italian had been in use for natives of the region since antiquity. See Pliny the Elder, Letters 9.23.
↑Encyclopædia Britannica, 1993 ed., Vol. 16, pp. 605ff / Morison, Christopher Columbus, 1955 ed., pp. 14ff
12McGaw Smyth, Howard (September 1948). "Italy: From Fascism to the Republic (1943–1946)". The Western Political Quarterly. 1 (3): 205–222. doi:10.2307/442274. JSTOR442274.
↑Raveane, Alessandro; Montinaro, Francesco; Capelli, Cristian (2019). "Un ritratto genetico degli italiani". Scienza in rete. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
↑Saupe et al. 2021 "The results suggest that the Steppe-related ancestry component could have first arrived through Late N/Bell Beaker groups from Central Europe."
↑Kruta, Venceslas (1991). The Celts. Thames and Hudson. pp.89–102.
↑Stifter, David (2008). Old Celtic Languages – Addenda. p.25.
↑Nicholas Hammond, Howard Scullard. Dizionario di antichità classiche. Milano, Edizioni San Paolo, 1995, p.1836-1836. ISBN88-215-3024-8.
↑"ELMO CELTICO". ARCHEOLOGIA GALLIA CISALPINA (in Italian). Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
↑Cornell, T. J. (1995): The Beginnings of Rome. p43
↑Goring, Elizabeth (2004). Treasures from Tuscany: the Etruscan legacy. Edinburgh: National Museums Scotland Enterprises Limited. p.13. ISBN978-1-901663-90-7.
↑Leighton, Robert (2004). Tarquinia. An Etruscan City. Duckworth Archaeological Histories Series. London: Duckworth Press. p.32. ISBN0-7156-3162-4.
↑Camporeale, Giovannangelo, ed. (2001). The Etruscans Outside Etruria. Translated by Hartmann, Thomas Michael. Los Angeles: Getty Trust Publications (published 2004).
↑Tassi F, Ghirotto S, Caramelli D, Barbujani G, etal. (2013). "Genetic evidence does not support an Etruscan origin in Anatolia". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 152 (1): 11–18. Bibcode:2013AJPA..152...11T. doi:10.1002/ajpa.22319. PMID23900768.
↑Leonardi, Michela; Sandionigi, Anna; Conzato, Annalisa; Lari, Martina; Tassi, Francesca (2018). "The female ancestor's tale: Long-term matrilineal continuity in a nonisolated region of Tuscany". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 167 (3): 497–506. Bibcode:2018AJPA..167..497L. doi:10.1002/ajpa.23679. PMID30187463. S2CID52161000.
↑Antonio, Margaret L.; Gao, Ziyue; M. Moots, Hannah (2019). "Ancient Rome: A genetic crossroads of Europe and the Mediterranean". Science. 366 (6466). Washington D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science (published 8 November 2019): 708–714. Bibcode:2019Sci...366..708A. doi:10.1126/science.aay6826. hdl:2318/1715466. PMC7093155. PMID31699931. Interestingly, although Iron Age individuals were sampled from both Etruscan (n=3) and Latin (n=6) contexts, we did not detect any significant differences between the two groups with f4 statistics in the form of f4(RMPR_Etruscan, RMPR_Latin; test population, Onge), suggesting shared origins or extensive genetic exchange between them.
↑Karl Viktor Müllenhoff, Deutsche Alterthurnskunde, I volume.
12Strabo, Geography, book 2, chapter 5, section 28.
↑Dominique François Louis Roget de Belloguet, Ethnogénie gauloise, ou Mémoires critiques sur l'origine et la parenté des Cimmériens, des Cimbres, des Ombres, des Belges, des Ligures et des anciens Celtes. Troisiéme partie: Preuves intellectuelles. Le génie gaulois, Paris 1868.
↑Gilberto Oneto Paesaggio e architettura delle regioni padano-alpine dalle origini alla fine del primo millennio, Priuli e Verlucc, editori 2002, pp. 34–36, 49.
↑See, in particular McEvedy, Colin (1967). The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History by Colin McEvedy. p.29.
↑Leonard Robert Palmer, The Latin Language, London: Faber and Faber, 1954, p. 54
↑Sciarretta, Antonio (2010). Toponomastica d'Italia. Nomi di luoghi, storie di popoli antichi. Milano: Mursia. pp.174–194. ISBN978-88-425-4017-5.
↑The Saylor Foundation. "The Ancient People of Italy"(PDF). Saylor.org. Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 November 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
↑P. A. Brunt, Italian manpower, 225 B.C.-A.D. 14, Oxford University Press, 1971, p. 52
12La popolazione del Mondo Greco-Romano, Karl Julius Beloch
↑Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, Vol. 1, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. 1854. p. 4
↑Luuk De Ligt, Peasants, Citizens and Soldiers: Studies in the Demographic History of Roman Italy 225 BC – AD 100. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. p. 43-44
↑A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Vol. 3, London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Streetp. 661
↑M. Rostovtzeff, A History of the Ancient World: Rome, Vol. II, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927, p. 171
↑Alfred S. Bradford, With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World, Praeger Publishers, 2001, p. 191
↑Staveley, ES (1989). "Rome and Italy in the Early Third Century". In Walbank, Frank William (ed.). The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol.VII: the Hellenistic World: Part 2: The Rise of Rome to 220 BC. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p.425. Certainly, steps designed to consolidate her hold in the north-east followed this incident in quick succession: the foundation in 268 of the Latin colony of Ariminum .... the annexation of the whole Picentine land save for ... Ancona and ... Asculum; the transportation of large numbers of Picentes to the ager Picentinus on the west coast, and finally in 264 the planting of a second large Latin colony on the coast at Firmum.
↑Ettore Pais, Ancient Italy: Historical and Geographical Investigations in Central Italy, Magna Graecia, Sicily, and Sardinia, The University of Chicago Press, 1908
↑Patrick Bruun, Studies in the romanization of Etruria, Vol. 1–7, p. 101
↑Frank N. Magill, The Middle Ages: Dictionary of World Biography, Volume 2, Salem Press, Inc. 1998, p. 895.
↑William A. Sumruld, Augustine and the Arians: The Bishop of Hippo's Encounters with Ulfilan Arianism, Associated Press University Presses 1994, p. 23.
↑De Bello Gothico IV 32, pp.241–245; this reference stems from the pen of the Byzantine historian, Procopius, who accompanied Justinian's leading general, Belisarius, on his exploits between 527 and 540. This included the campaigns against the Ostrogoths, which is the subject of De Bello Gothico.
↑Antonio Santosuosso, Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels: The Ways of Medieval Warfare, Westview Press 2004, p. 44.
↑Corbanese, G. G. (1983). Il Friuli, Trieste e l'Istria: dalla Preistoria alla caduta del Patriarcato d'Aquileia (Grande Atlante Cronologicoed.). Udine: Del Bianco.
↑Società Siciliana per la Storia Patria. Archivio Storico Siciliano (12 December 1876). "Archivio Storico Siciliano". Palermo. Retrieved 12 December 2017– via Internet Archive.
↑Barone, Francesco (2003). "Islām in Sicilia nel XII e XIII secolo: ortoprassi, scienze religiose e tasawwuf". In Di Bella, Saverio; Tomasello, Dario (eds.). L'Islam in Europa tra passato e futuro. Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore. p.104. ISBN88-8101-159-X.
↑Jules Gay, L'Italie meridionale et l'empire Byzantin, Parigi 1904, vol. II, p. 450-453.
↑David Abulafia, Le due Italie: relazioni economiche fra il regno normanno di Sicilia e i comuni settentrionali, Cambridge University Press 1977 (trad. it. Guida Editori, Napoli 1991), p. 114.
↑These Lombard colonisers were natives from Northern Italy and should not be confused with the Lombard Germanic tribe, who were referred to as Longobardi to distinguish them from the locals of the region who were known as Lombardi.
↑According to the most credible hypothesis this settlement dates back to a period between the eleventh century and the thirteenth century. Cfr. Toso, Fiorenzo (2008). Le minoranze linguistiche in Italia. Bologna: Il Mulino. p.137. ISBN978-88-15-12677-1.
12Moretti, Enrico (1 January 1999). "Social Networks and Migrations: Italy 1876–1913". The International Migration Review. 33 (3): 640–657. doi:10.2307/2547529. JSTOR2547529.
↑Departamento de Derecho y Ciencias Políticas de la Universidad Nacional de La Matanza (14 November 2011). "Historias de inmigrantes italianos en Argentina" (in Spanish). infouniversidades.siu.edu.ar. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2018. Se estima que en la actualidad, el 90% de la población argentina tiene alguna ascendencia europea y que al menos 25 millones están relacionados con algún inmigrante de Italia.
↑The Italian Ambassador stated at the 2008 Film Festival in Asmara Archived 18 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine that nearly 100,000 Eritreans in 2008 have Italian blood, because they have at least one grandfather or great-grandfather from Italy.
↑Cohen, I. Bernard (1965). "Reviewed work: The Scientific Renaissance, 1450–1630, Marie Boas". Isis. 56 (2): 240–242. doi:10.1086/349987. JSTOR227945.
↑Davies, Peter; Lynch, Derek (2002). The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right. Routledge Companions. Routledge. pp.1–5. ISBN978-0-415-21494-0.
↑Workman, Daniel (27 December 2018). "Italy's Top 10 Exports". World's Top Exports. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
↑Of this second root Dario Fo he speaks of a true alternative culture to the official one: although widespread as an idea, some scholars such as Giovanni Antonucci[it] do not agree in considering it as such. In this regard, see Antonucci, Giovanni (1995). Storia del teatro italiano (in Italian). Newton Compton Editori. pp.10–14. ISBN978-88-7983-974-7.
↑Antonucci, Giovanni (1995). Storia del teatro italiano (in Italian). Newton Compton Editori. p.18. ISBN978-88-7983-974-7.
123Chaffee, Judith; Crick, Olly (2015). The Routledge Companion to Commedia Dell'Arte. London and New York: Rutledge Taylor and Francis Group. p.1. ISBN978-0-415-74506-2.
↑"The Ballet". metmuseum.org. October 2004. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
↑Kuzmick Hansell, Kathleen (1980). Opera and Ballet at the Regio Ducal Teatro of Milan, 1771–1776: A Musical and Social History. Vol.I. University of California. p.200.[ISBN unspecified]
12"Cinematografia", Dizionario enciclopedico italiano (in Italian), vol.III, Treccani, 1970, p.226
↑Andrea Fioravanti (2006). La "storia" senza storia. Racconti del passato tra letteratura, cinema e televisione (in Italian). Morlacchi Editore. p.121. ISBN978-88-6074-066-3.
↑Robert K. Klepper (1999). Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies. McFarland. p.78. ISBN978-0-7864-0595-4.
↑Patrick Robertson (1991). Guinness Book of Movie Facts and Feats. Abbeville Press. p.217. ISBN978-1-55859-236-0.
↑John Alberti (2014). Screen Ages: A Survey of American Cinema. Routledge. p.45. ISBN978-1-317-65028-7.
↑Several Italian encyclopaedias claim Meucci as the inventor of the telephone, including:
– the "Treccani" Archived 11 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine
– the Italian version of Microsoft digital encyclopaedia, Encarta.
– Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (Italian Encyclopedia of Science, Literature and Arts).
↑Orlando, Lucia (1998). "Physics in the 1930s: Jewish Physicists' Contribution to the Realization of the "New Tasks" of Physics in Italy". Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences. 29 (1): 141–181. doi:10.2307/27757806. JSTOR27757806.
↑Ricci-Curbastro, Gregorio (1918), Lezioni di Analisi algebrica ed infinitesimale (1926ed.), Padova: Tip. Universitaria
↑Bondyopadhyay, Prebir K. (1995). "Guglielmo Marconi – The father of long distance radio communication – An engineer's tribute". 25th European Microwave Conference, 1995. p.879. doi:10.1109/EUMA.1995.337090. S2CID6928472.
↑Related Articles (2 January 2009). "Italian cuisine". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Britannica.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010.
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