Famous Italian Philosophers
The old-world charm and beauty of Italy wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for Italian philosophers who dominated much of the country’s culture, heritage and traditional landscape. What’s more, Italian philosophy exerted a huge influence on Western philosophy and helped shaped much of its structure and ideologies. Right from the ancient times, Italy has been home to some of the world’s most renowned philosophers, whose thinking and ideologies gave people a new dominion from which they could look at things. Philosophers like Cicero, Lucretius, Plutarch and Clement of Alexandria all belong to Ancient Rome. The period of ancient philosophy gave way to medieval philosophy which in turn saw the emergence and dominance of the Renaissance movement that swiftly enrolled entire Europe. It was during this time that Italian philosophy gained new heights with the philosophies of Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, Tommaso Campanella, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. The Age of Enlightenment witnessed the emergence of Giovani Battista Vico, who in turn became the founder of modern Italian philosophy. Find out more about greatest Italian philosophers through this section.
This ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.
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Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: April 26, 0121
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: March 17, 0180
Marcus Aurelius played an important role in the Roman Empire. A Stoic philosopher, Marcus was part of the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana—a 200-year-long period of relative peace in the Roman Empire. Also a writer, his work Meditations is regarded by many as one of the greatest works of philosophy.
Famous As: Diplomat
Birthdate: May 3, 1469
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: June 22, 1527
Italian Renaissance philosopher, diplomat, and author Niccolò Machiavelli is remembered for his work The Prince. He believed that the end or the intention behind any action justifies the action. He gave rise to the term Machiavellianism, which signifies the use of deceit and treachery to achieve one’s goals.
Famous As: Poet
Birthdate: 1265 AD
Birthplace: Florence, Italy
Died: September 14, 1321
Dante Alighieri was an Italian writer, poet, and philosopher. His work Divine Comedy is widely regarded as the greatest literary work ever produced in the Italian language and the most prominent poem of the Middle Ages. Often referred to as the father of the Italian language, Dante Alighieri played a crucial role in establishing the Italian literature.
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Famous As: Medievalist, Philosopher
Birthdate: January 5, 1932
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Alessandria, Italy
Died: February 19, 2016
Italian novelist Umberto Eco is best remembered for his novels The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum. He also taught at the University of Bologna and had released quite a few children’s books and translations. He was also known for his work on semiotics and medieval studies.
Famous As: Marxist philosopher, Journalist
Birthdate: January 23, 1891
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Ales, Italy
Died: April 27, 1937
Antonio Gramsci was an Italian politician, journalist, philosopher, linguist, and writer. A founding member of the Communist Party of Italy, Gramsci went on to serve as the leader of the party before he was arrested by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime. Since his death, Antonio Gramsci has been the subject of several plays and films.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: 1548 AD
Birthplace: Nola, Italy
Died: February 17, 1600
Giordano Bruno was an Italian philosopher, friar, mathematician, cosmological theorist, poet, and Hermetic occultist. Best remembered for his cosmological theories, Bruno insisted that the universe could have no center as it is infinite. In 2004, Herbert Steffen founded the Giordano Bruno Foundation in Bruno's honor.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: May 19, 1898
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: June 11, 1974
Julius Evola was an Italian poet, philosopher, painter, esotericist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, and occultist. Evola is extremely popular in fringe circles due to his supernatural, magical, and metaphysical beliefs. Due to his traditionalist views on gender, which advocated a purely patriarchal society, Evola is regarded as one of Italy’s most influential fascist racists of all time.
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Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: 0477 AD
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: October 23, 0524
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.
Famous As: Saint, Philosopher
Birthdate: 1033 AD
Birthplace: Aosta, Italy
Died: April 21, 1109
Owing to his quality classical education, Anselm of Canterbury became one of the finest Latinists of his time. As Archbishop of Canterbury, he resisted the English kings and was exiled. He is now remembered as a significant figure in the Investiture Controversy, which pitted the king against the pope.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: April 22, 1942
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: 0495 AD
Birthplace: Velia, Italy
Died: 0430 AD
Famous As: Economist, Writer, Philosopher, Sociologist, University teacher
Birthdate: July 15, 1848
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Paris
Died: August 19, 1923
A qualified civil engineer, Vilfredo Pareto had initially worked for the railways and the ironworks. However, he gradually deviated to philosophy, sociology, and politics and gained fame for his application of math to economic issues and his introduction of Pareto efficiency. Mind and Society remains his best-known work.
Famous As: Jurist
Birthdate: March 15, 1738
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Milan
Died: November 28, 1794
Cesare Beccaria was an 18th-century Italian criminologist, philosopher, jurist, and politician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment. He is still remembered for his treatise On Crimes and Punishments (1764), a pioneering work in the field of penology. He is considered the father of modern criminal law.
Famous As: Renaissance humanist author
Birthdate: February 14, 1404
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Genoa, Italy
Died: April 25, 1472
Born into an affluent banker family of Florence, Leon Battista Alberti was rumored to be an illegitimate son of his father and a Bolognese widow. The ideal Renaissance man, he later applied mathematical precision to his paintings and architectural work. His written work on art remains invaluable.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: May 30, 1875
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Castelvetrano, Italy
Died: April 15, 1944
Famous As: Theologian
Birthdate: 1221 AD
Birthplace: Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy
Died: July 15, 1274
Bonaventure was an Italian philosopher, scholastic theologian, and Franciscan. A prominent philosopher, Bonaventure wrote on various subjects and his writings are considered substantial. Bonaventure, who served as the Cardinal Bishop of Albano, was canonized by Pope Sixtus IV on 14 April 1482.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: June 29, 1798
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Recanati, Italy
Died: June 14, 1837
Giacomo Leopardi was one of the greatest lyric poets of the 19th century. Born into a noble family, he mastered several languages and wrote many works by 16, in spite of suffering from a cerebrospinal ailment. Remembered for his iconic works such as A Silvia, he died during a cholera epidemic.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: February 24, 1463
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Mirandola, Italy
Died: November 17, 1494
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: June 23, 1668
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Naples, Italy
Died: January 23, 1744
Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico is regarded as a pioneer of what is now known as cultural anthropology, or ethnology. He brought together history and the social sciences in his work Scienza nuova. A poor bookseller’s son, he studied by candlelight but grew up to be a major Counter-Enlightenment figure.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: June 5, 1646
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: July 26, 1684
Famous As: Philosopher, Politician, Professor, Economist
Birthdate: August 1, 1933
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Padua
Italian philosopher Antonio Negri has donned many hats, from teaching law at the University of Padua to being part of the Italian parliament. An Autonomism leader, he was accused of being part of the left-wing militant organization Red Brigades and later fled to Paris. Empire is one of his best works.
Famous As: Philosopher, Politician, Art historian, Writer, Literary critic
Birthdate: February 25, 1866
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Pescasseroli
Died: November 20, 1952
Famous As: Mathematician, Philosopher, Theologian
Birthdate: May 16, 1718
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: January 9, 1799
Italian mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi, daughter of an affluent silk trader, was well-versed in a number of languages as a child. Most of her work was regarding algebra, calculus, and the Witch of Agnesi. She was also the first female academic to write a math book and to teach math.
Famous As: Mathematician, Philosopher
Birthdate: 1401 AD
Birthplace: Bernkastel-Kues, Germany
Died: August 11, 1464
Nicholas of Cusa was a German mathematician, astronomer, jurist, theologian, and philosopher. One of the first supporters of Renaissance humanism in Germany, Nicholas of Cusa made significant political and spiritual contributions in European history. He is remembered for his efforts to reform the universal and Roman Church.
Famous As: Philosopher, Writer, Cleric, Astrologer, Poet
Birthdate: October 19, 1433
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Figline Valdarno
Died: October 1, 1499
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: 0500 BC
Birthplace: Metapontum, Italy
Died: 0450 BC
Famous As: Physicist
Birthdate: May 18, 1711
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Died: February 13, 1787
Italian astronomer and mathematician Roger Joseph Boscovich was one of the first European scientists to accept Newton’s gravitational theory. His contributions to astronomy include the application of geometry to compute the orbit of a planet and the equator of a rotating planet. He also laid the foundation of the atomic theory.
Famous As: Poet, Novelist and Philosopher.
Birthdate: March 7, 1785
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: May 22, 1873
Alessandro Manzoni was a 19th-century Italian poet, novelist, and philosopher. His novel The Betrothed is generally counted among the masterpieces of world literature. He is credited to have contributed to the stabilization of the modern Italian language. He was politically active and was a member of the Italian Senate. He was a proponent of Liberal Catholicism.
Famous As: Professor
Birthdate: January 11, 1974
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Daniele Bolelli is an Italian writer, academic, martial artist, and podcaster. Born into a family of writers, he studied history at CSULB and Cardiff University before embarking on an academic career. He is known for taking a "renaissance man approach” as a lecturer. He is the author of several books on philosophy and martial arts.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: September 5, 1568
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Stilo, Italy
Died: May 21, 1639
Tommaso Campanella was an Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, astrologer, and poet. His heterodox views often brought him into conflict with the authorities, and he was imprisoned for several years. In prison, he wrote The City of the Sun, a utopia describing an egalitarian theocratic society. He also defended astronomer Galileo Galilei in his first trial.
Famous As: Politician
Birthdate: August 31, 1907
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: May 23, 1986
Known as one of the EU’s founding fathers, Italian politician Altiero Spinelli was a communist who had spent 16 years in confinement for opposing fascist powers. While in prison, he co-wrote the Ventotene Manifesto. He later represented Central Italy in the European Parliament and was part of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
Famous As: Political scientist
Birthdate: April 1, 1858
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Palermo, Italy
Died: November 8, 1941
Gaetano Mosca was an Italian journalist, political scientist, and public servant. He developed the elite theory and is credited with co-founding the Italian school of elitism along with Robert Michels and Vilfredo Pareto. As a political journalist, Gaetano Mosca contributed immensely to popular Italian publications like the Corriere della Sera and the Tribuna.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: January 4, 1936
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Turin, Italy
Famous As: writer, politician, philosopher, poet, diplomat
Birthdate: 1220 AD
Birthplace: Florence
Died: 1294 AD
Famous As: Scholar
Birthdate: 1275 AD
Birthplace: Padua, Italy
Died: 1342 AD
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: October 18, 1909
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Turin, Italy
Died: January 9, 2004
Legal and political philosopher Norberto Bobbio was initially part of the liberal socialist Partito d'Azione but later left politics to focus on academics. He later taught at various institutes and eventually chaired the faculty of political science at Turin. He also won honors such as the Balzan Prize.
Famous As: Greek mythographer
Birthdate: 0000 AD
Birthplace: Messina
Died: 0250 AD
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.
Famous As: Mathematician
Birthdate: April 27, 1932
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Vigevano, Italy
Died: April 18, 1999
Gian-Carlo Rota went down in history as the first and the only professor of applied mathematics and philosophy at MIT. His illustrious scientific career revolved around research on subjects such as combinatorics, probability, and functional analysis. He had also led the American Mathematical Society as its vice president.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: 0000 AD
Birthplace: Crotone, Italy
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: November 16, 1964
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Rome
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: 0360 AD
Birthplace: Taranto, Italy
Died: 0300 AD
Famous As: Physician
Birthdate: December 25, 1730
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Poggio a Caiano, Italy
Died: March 19, 1816
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: June 5, 1944
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Famous As: Saint
Birthdate: September 27, 1696
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Marianella, Naples, Italy
Died: August 1, 1787
Catholic bishop Alphonsus Liguori was the man behind the formation of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Redemptorists. He stepped into his spiritual life after an 8-year stint as a lawyer. He is also remembered for his works on moral theology and equiprobabilism.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: 1247 AD
Birthplace: Rome, Italy
Died: December 22, 1316
Augustinian philosopher and theologian Giles of Rome, known to be a disciple of St. Thomas Aquinas, was a major figure of St. Augustine’s Order of the Hermit Friars. Named Doctor Fundatissimus, which is Latin for the Best-Grounded Teacher, by Pope Benedict XIV, he is also remembered for his commentaries on Aristotle’s Organon.
Famous As: Polymath
Birthdate: December 11, 1712
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Venice, Italy
Died: May 3, 1764
Famous As: Poet
Birthdate: 1544 AD
Birthplace: Piedmont, Italy
Died: June 23, 1617
Famous As: Physician
Birthdate: June 6, 1519
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Arezzo, Italy
Died: February 23, 1603
Famous As: Economist
Birthdate: December 12, 1728
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Milan, Italy
Died: June 28, 1797
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.
Famous As: Philosopher
Birthdate: 0080 AD
Birthplace: Arles, Italy
Died: 0160 AD