Francesco de Sanctis

Francesco de Sanctis was born in the southern Italian town of Morra Irpina to a middle-class family. His father was a doctor of law, and his uncles were exiled for participating in the Carbonari Uprisings of 1820–1821. After his high school studies in Naples, he was educated at the Italian language institute in Naples founded by Marquis Basilio Puoti. De Sanctis established his own private school and gained recognition for his extensive knowledge of Italian literature. In 1848, he served in the revolutionary government and was subsequently imprisoned for three years. Upon his release, his reputation as a lecturer on Italian authors like Dante Alighieri led to a professorship at ETH Zurich in 1856. He returned to Naples in 1860 as minister of public instruction and held similar positions in 1861, 1878, and 1879. In 1861, he also became a deputy in the Italian chamber. In 1871, he was appointed professor of comparative literature at Naples University. De Sanctis was a proponent of Darwinism and lectured on the subject. As a literary critic, he was highly respected, with notable works like "Storia della letteratura italiana" and various critical studies. Many of his works were published posthumously in Naples in 1883. He influenced many disciples, most famously Benedetto Croce. His philosophical contributions were primarily in aesthetics, and his impact on Italian literary criticism remains significant.