Famous Italian Historians

Suetonius was a Roman historian who lived and worked during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. Many of his works have been lost, and the most important of his surviving works is a set of biographies of 12 successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar to Domitian. He was a close friend of senator Pliny the Younger.

Giorgio Vasari was an Italian architect, painter, writer, engineer, and historian. He is best remembered for his work The Lives, a series of artist biographies, which is regarded as the art-historical writing's ideological foundation. Vasari is also credited with the formulation of the term Renaissance as it was first suggested by Jules Michelet based on Giorgio Vasari's text.

Diodorus Siculus was an ancient Greek historian known for writing the monumental universal history, Bibliotheca Historica. The original series consisted of 40 books, out of which 15 survive intact. In his own work, it is mentioned that he was born in Agyrium in Sicily. Exact details about his personal life are not available.  

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius was a Roman senator, consul, and philosopher of the early 6th century. He worked under the Ostrogothic King Theodoric the Great, who later imprisoned and killed him. In jail, Boethius wrote his Consolation of Philosophy, which is considered a seminal treatise on death, fortune, and other issues. He also translated the works of Plato and Aristotle.  

Sallust was a Roman historian and politician who hailed from an Italian plebeian family.  He was a popularis and a vehement opponent of the old Roman aristocracy. Later in his career, he became a partisan of Julius Caesar. He is considered the earliest known Latin-language Roman historian with surviving works to his name. 

Jeanne Modigliani was an Italian-French Jewish art historian. She was the daughter of artists Amedeo Modigliani and Jeanne Hébuterne. She lost both her parents as a small child and was adopted by her aunt. She conducted extensive biographical research on her father years after his death and published the book Modigliani: Man and Myth.   

Giovanni Schiaparelli made headlines when he discovered the canals of Mars, suggesting the existence of intelligent life forms on the planet. He also discovered the asteroid named Hesperia and was associated with the Brera Observatory in Milan for more than 40 years. He had also been a senator of Italy.

Italian journalist Indro Montanelli was named one of the International Press Institute’s World Press Freedom Heroes. Though he initially studied law and political science, he later drifted toward journalism, even working as a crime reporter. He had been arrested by the Nazis but luckily escaped the firing squad.

A microhistory expert, Italian historian Carlo Ginzburg has had teaching stints at the University of Bologna and UCLA. He is best known for his work The Cheese and the Worms and holds 16 honorary degrees from various universities. He also won the Balzan Prize for the History of Europe in 2010.

Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman counted amongst the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. Born into a prominent political family, he received a fine humanist education and was trained in the classics. His work, The History of Italy, is considered a masterpiece and paved the way for a new style in historiography. 

Valerio Massimo Manfredi is an Italian historian, essayist, writer, archaeologist, and journalist. He earned a degree in classical arts at the University of Bologna and became an archaeologist. He later pursued an academic career and published many essays and articles. He has held conferences and seminars in many reputed universities. He is also the author of several best-selling novels. 

Italian theologian and scientist Paolo Sarpi was also a lawyer. He lost his father early and was raised by his mother and uncle. His intellect and seriousness had earned him the nickname The Bride in his early days. He advocated for the separation of the Church and the state.

Euhemerus was a Greek mythographer who served at the court of the Macedonian king, Cassander. Euhemerus is renowned for his efforts to rationalize mythology in historical terms and commonize mythological characters as historical personages. This historical interpretation of mythology came to be known as Euhemerism, although many people before Euhemerus have made attempts to rationalize mythology in historical terms.

Italian-born humanist scholar, historian and priest, Polydore Vergil is especially famed for his magnum opus, Twenty-six Books of English History, often being dubbed as the Father of English History for this feat. Sent to England soon after being ordained as priest, he spent major part of his life there, authoring many other works, including Proverbiorum libellus and De rerum inventoribus.

Tyrannius Rufinus was a monk, historian, and theologian best remembered as a translator of Greek patristic material into Latin. He was born to Christian parents and chose to live the life of a monk. He spent many years of his life translating the numerous works of Christian scholar Origen from Greek to Latin. He also translated Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History. 

Alessandro Barbero is an Italian historian, essayist, and novelist. He studied literature and medieval history at the University of Turin. He is the author of numerous works on history, including The Battle, an account of the Battle of Waterloo. He is also a TV and radio commentator and organizer on the Italian cultural scene. He received the 1996 Strega Prize. 

Italian chaplain Peter Martyr d'Anghiera later became a well-known historian at the Spanish court. A significant figure of the Age of Exploration, he was part of the Council of the Indies of Emperor Charles V. His De Orbe Novo contained the first known mention of India rubber in a European work.

Paolo Giovio was an Italian historian, physician, biographer, and prelate. He is best remembered for his work which chronicles the Great Wars of Italy. Giovio is also remembered for authoring Historiarum sui temporis libri XLV, an acclaimed work of contemporary history.

An influential art historian, critic, and curator, Germano Celant is known for coining the term, Arte Povera to describe the radically economical art of some post WWII Italian artists. Beginning his career with Geneva based art magazine Marcatrè, he eventually become the curator of New York’s Guggenheim museum and Director of Milan’s Prada Foundation, concurrently authoring many books on art.

Flavio Biondo was an Italian historian who played a major role in popularizing the three-period classification of history, i.e., ancient, medieval, and modern. He is also regarded as one of the earliest known archaeologists. Also an influential writer, Flavio Biondo's first work De Roma instaurata was the first systematic guide to the ruins of Rome.

Author of numerous literary, historical, and economic works, Pietro Verri was a leader of Milanese academy and moving force behind Società dei Pugni. Also a distinguished public administrator and political economist employed with the Milanese government, he has been credited with abolition of tax farming. Some of his important works are Riflessioni sulle leggi vincolanti and Meditazioni sull’ economia politica.

Best known for discovering the Muratorian Fragment, Lodovico Antonio Muratori was a pioneer of Italian historiography. He began his career as a priest and joined the Ambrosian library of Milan. He is remembered for his works such as Anecdota and Annali d’Italia. He was also against orthodox religious beliefs.

Lea Vergine was an Italian art historian best remembered for her collaborations with several prestigious journals, such as Corriere della Sera. An early exponent of performance art, Lea Vergine is also remembered for her book Body Art and Performance. Apart from working towards the betterment of her own career, Lea Vergine also helped promote Carol Rama's career.