Renzo De Felice

Renzo De Felice
Born(1929-04-08)8 April 1929
Rieti, Kingdom of Italy
Died25 May 1996(1996-05-25) (aged 67)
Rome, Republic of Italy
OccupationHistorian, writer
Alma materSapienza University of Rome
GenreHistory
SubjectBenito Mussolini, Italian fascism and Jacobinism
Literary movementHistorical revisionism
Notable worksHistory of the Jews under Fascism (1961)
Biography of Mussolini (1965–1996)
SpouseLivia De Ruggiero

Renzo De Felice (8 April 1929 – 25 May 1996) was an Italian historian, who specialized in the Fascist era, writing, among other works, a 6000-page biography of Mussolini (4 volumes, 1965–1997). He argued that Mussolini was a revolutionary modernizer in domestic issues but a pragmatist in foreign policy who continued the Realpolitik policies of Italy from 1861 to 1922.[1] Historian of Italy Philip Morgan has called De Felice's biography of Mussolini "a very controversial, influential and at the same time problematic re-reading of Mussolini and Fascism" and rejected the contention that his work rose above politics to "scientific objectivity", as claimed by the author and his defenders.[2]

  1. ^ James Burgwyn, "Renzo De Felice and Mussolini's Foreign Policy: Pragmatism vs. Ideology," Italian Quarterly (1999), Vol. 36, Issue 141/142, pp. 93–103
  2. ^ Morgan, Philip, 1948- (2004). Italian Fascism, 1915-1945 (2nd ed.). Houndmills [England]: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 6–8. ISBN 1403932514. OCLC 55210691.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)