A pilgrim in the desert: remembering the early Italian career of Giovanni Sartori

Abstract Giovanni Sartori is considered one of the leading figures in Italian, European, and global political science. The year 2024 marks the centenary of his birth, providing an opportunity to revisit the early career of this scholar in Italy. Drawing on Sartori’s writings and previously unexplored archival material, this article revisits his personal trajectory. It illustrates how a distinguished academic career was built, beginning with his personal path as a student, and later, from the 1950s to the mid-1970s, as a professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Florence, during a time when political science was, in effect, non-existent. The article outlines his intellectual influences, their political context, his struggle for the recognition of political science within the Italian academic system, and his continual commitment to internationalisation. These elements collectively provide a fascinating illustration of the emergence of modern political science in Europe.